


Predators

by KizuKatana



Category: Naruto
Genre: Elite Police Officer!Sasuke, F/M, Gentically-modified Soldier!Naruto, I have not decided, I took all the dark elements of Naruto's and Sasuke's character and double-down on them like 1000x, M/M, NO SWEETNESS IN THIS ONE FOLKS, No one should read this, Stalking, This is an EXTREMELY dark fic, VERY DISTURBING CONTENT, Violent Sex, dangerously obsessive!Naruto, dystopian universe, it is really fucked up, no seriously, or if bloodplay or cumplay bother you, please read the tags if you have triggers, possibly Gaara will appear, some chapters will be utterly FILTHY, totally ruthless!Sasuke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-06-08 14:34:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 80,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6858952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KizuKatana/pseuds/KizuKatana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naruto is a genetically modified soldier, used by the government to win a war, then thrown in prison because he was too dangerous and too valuable to be allowed out.  The military police run the state after the war.  And they are led by a pair of ruthless, elite officers who are the last to carry a powerful, unmodified bloodline.  VERY DARK FIC.  See tags.  Sex will be violent enough to possibly trigger, so don't read this if you don't like it dark and rough. 18+ ONLY, please.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Interest

 

**Predators**

**Summary:** VERY DARK dystopian AU. GeneticallyModifiedSoldier!Naruto, ElitePoliceEnforcer!Sasuke. Taking the darkest, most predatory elements of their canon personas and doubling down on them. By 1000x. So extremely obsessive!Naruto and very ruthless!Sasuke. Obsession, stalking, possessive behavior, violence, ruthlessness, um… yeah. Dark. Very disturbing interactions. But this was the drabble that won, so I'm posting it!

* * *

Naruto lounged back against the hard concrete of his cell, one leg bent with the other stretched out loosely in front of him. His electric blue eyes were half closed as he listened to the guards patrol. He could smell their anxiety whenever they passed by his cell, courtesy of the animal DNA they'd encoded into him when he was an embryo.

He'd stopped letting it bother him long ago.

He let a slow smile appear on his lips and drew a deep breath as he took in the sharp spike of fear of the guard who was stationed outside his cell who could see him on the closed-circuit camera feed that monitored him at all times. The man had most likely just been told it was time to deliver Naruto's daily meal.

Cowards.

Naruto's cell was constructed in two layers. An outer set of walls and with a single solid steel door, which was carefully locked behind the guards who brought his food to him before the inner steel door was opened. Both sets of walls were made of steel-reinforced concrete. Inside the small ten by ten cell was a small cot, a toilet and shower, and a small table with a single chair. He was never let out of this cell for any reason, being deemed too dangerous. It was designed to be impossible to escape from, even for a monster. But that didn't mean it _was,_ and both Naruto and his guards knew it.

If Naruto ever made a move to escape, mealtime would be the easiest time. Which, of course, was why they only fed him once a day. Naruto had the feeling that if the treaty didn't require that all the genetically modified or "G-mod" soldiers be monitored to ensure there was no further genetic manipulation, they would just have left him to starve. But it would look bad if the Alliance let their war heroes _starve_ and the public found out, so they continued to feed him once a day.

He wondered if the prisoners of war that his government had captured in the battle he'd won for them were treated better than he was. It was quite possible, given the treaty also specified the terms under which prisoners of war were to be kept. But Naruto shrugged it off. It almost didn't matter whether you were a prisoner, a soldier, or a 'free' civilian anymore. From the little news he heard, the military police force had an iron grip on anything that mattered in the country now.

And that included Naruto. Even a tiny vial of his blood would be worth a fortune on the black market. As part of the treaty that had finally ended the war. All the labs and all the DNA samples had been destroyed under joint supervision from all factions. All G-mod soldiers whose strength exceeded a certain level of danger had to be housed in high security, heavily guarded and monitored facilities to ensure that no further genetic manipulation was done by either side. The arms race to build the most powerful soldiers was finally over.

At least, that was the _official_ story.

The fact that they still delivered a female once a week to Naruto's cell in the hopes that he would fuck her and pass his genetic material on 'the old fashioned way' made him laugh. All births, both civilian and soldier, had to be genetically tested at the time of birth. Any baby showing genetically modified DNA traits had to be registered in the system with proof of 'natural' mating to make the child legal and not in violation of the treaty. The video monitors in Naruto's cell would provide such proof if he ever mated a woman and sired a child.

But that was never going to happen. Aside from the fact that Naruto was not about to give the asshole that ran the prison they'd thrown him in the satisfaction of getting what he wanted, the women they'd brought to him held absolutely no appeal to him. Their scents told him immediately that they weren't a match for him on any level. Weren't his equal. No matter how much they'd rubbed against him, Naruto hadn't felt even the slightest stirring of arousal.

The snake bastard warden had come once, telling Naruto that his life could be made significantly _better_ if he just did what they wanted him to do. Naruto had only had to narrow his eyes at the long-haired, yellow-eyed man and the stench of fear that had pumped off him had nearly choked Naruto. The man hadn't come again, but the women shoved half-naked into Naruto's cell hadn't stopped, either.

The sound of the heavy, electronic locks releasing the steel bolts echoed through the small cell. He watched as the six guards walked and in set the food tray on the ground with a clatter, their fear flooding his senses.

_That's what they get for breeding soldiers that were too dangerous to control. Huddling in fear of their own weapons._

They all were aware of what Naruto was capable of. As part of the training to become guards of the facility, they'd been shown videos of Naruto in battle so they would understand just what they were housing. Naruto had only been used once, in the final battle. It had taken an entire division to subdue him, and he knew that - of all the cells in this prison - the walls of his were the thickest. They'd used him to win the war, then locked him away like an animal.

He closed his eyes.

They weren't wrong on that, truth be told. Naruto's tremendous strength and speed came at a price. When he was in full battle mode, he was simply a mindless killing machine. He wanted to be more than that, but after experiencing the bloodlust of battle, coming to his senses with only vague memories of killing _hundreds,_ possibly _thousands_ and not even remembering what uniform they wore, he knew he wasn't safe to be let out. He hadn't even known what he was fighting for, only that they'd dropped him in the middle of a battlefield. Before he'd even gotten his bearings, someone had attacked him, a bullet creasing his shoulder. His body had responded instinctively to the danger, fight or flight taking over. And Naruto chose _fight._ All of the training and conditioning and his very DNA clicked together to make him the most lethal weapon on the battlefield.

But an uncontrollable one, evidently. Naruto shrugged. He'd long ago accepted what he was. A weapon of mass destruction. It was the only reason he never bothered trying to escape. He had no means of controlling himself if he was put in a battle situation. Why go out and seek to build a life for himself it if was only a matter of time before he destroyed it?

He lifted the lid off the food tray. The food was actually acceptable. Even though they only brought it once a day, it was nutritious and freshly prepared.

Of course, they probably knew that if they ever tried to starve him, he might actually put his mind to escaping. But for now, he had nothing he really wanted to do outside of these reinforced concrete and steel walls. Nowhere to go, and no one to go with. Even though he wasn't allowed contact with the other G-mods, he could catch their familiar scent and found it comforting. Almost like a home.

* * *

Naruto was doing smooth, clean reps of push-ups when a sound caught his attention. He knew the sound of every guard's footsteps and could hear six of the usual guards approaching his cell. But there was another that was unfamiliar. Naruto stilled, focusing all his senses on that one, unfamiliar tread. It was a predator's movements. Not stealthy, but there was a surety and softness to the footfalls that told Naruto this was not an ordinary guard that was approaching his cell.

The sound of the locks opening confirmed that. It was not feeding time and it had only been yesterday when they'd shoved yet another potential mate into his cell. Naruto wiped the sweat from his face and bare chest, throwing the towel aside. He didn't bother putting on a shirt. If this was a surprise inspection, they'd want to check his body for needle-marks, anyway, to insure his blood hadn't been taken to replenish the samples that had been destroyed in the labs. Though every entry into his cell was logged and video recorded, they could never be too cautious.

But Naruto already knew that the man who was about to enter his chamber was no scientist.

Naruto drew in a deep breath. He could smell the usual acrid scent of fear and anxiety on the guards that were escorting his visitor. But the visitor himself… Naruto breathed deeper, his eyes widening in surprise. The visitor himself was fucking _blocking_ him. He could smell no emotion on the man at all. Naruto could smell other things, though. The cold, sterile scent of control. The sharp, metallic tang of ambition. And the nearly overpoweringly dark scent of power.

Naruto grinned as the door opened. Finally, they were sending him someone interesting.

The heavy steel door slid open and Naruto was shocked when the other guards stepped back and a man entered Naruto's cell. Alone. He was maybe an inch or two taller than Naruto, with jet-black hair and eyes to match, though his skin was pale. He was dressed in the uniform of a senior ranking officer of the military police. Naruto barely noticed, though. He was busy taking in the way the man moved, the deceptively easy, fluid grace that Naruto's body immediately recognized for what it was.

_Predatory._

The man's eyes were locked on his but showed no fear. Naruto had the feeling that the man could see every muscle beneath his skin, detecting his movements before they were even carried out. Naruto drew in another deep breath, wanting to capture everything he could about this man. Even this close, Naruto could still detect no emotion in the man's scent. But he could finally smell the underlying musk of the man, faint beneath the scent of the soap he'd used. It made Naruto want to hum in approval.

"No one ever comes in here alone," Naruto's voice was deceptively lazy as he leaned against the concrete wall of his tiny prison. His eyes slid over his guest before locking on the coal black gaze of the man. Naruto's senses were on high alert, the muscles in his stomach and thighs tensing to coiled readiness but his overall body posture was one of bored disinterest. Something told him that the man in front of him was not fooled.

The instincts in Naruto's blood hummed with awareness, his eyes immediately shifted from their usual blue to the orange, slitted form that allowed him sharper vision in any lighting. The guards - who were clearly monitoring the encounter from the safety of the video feed in the corridor - shouted and Naruto could hear the sounds of their guns being drawn. The man lifted a hand, and Naruto instantly recognized it for the military gesture that it was: _Stand Down_.

Though, interestingly, the man's eyes were now red. Naruto knew the scent of anyone who had been genetically modified, and this man hadn't. Which could only mean one thing and it made Naruto's grin widen when he realized it.

Naruto had only seen it once before, remembering with perfect clarity the red eyes that had been on the man who had led the final unit that had been called to subdue him. That man had been older than the officer currently in Naruto's cell and had had longer hair, but the eyes were the same. Eyes of power. But not artificially bred the way Naruto had been. The strength of this man would only be human, unlike Naruto. But the eyes and speed were what made him a very real threat, even to a creature like Naruto.

Naruto forced his body to remain in its relaxed position against the wall despite his instincts screaming for him to get ready for battle.

"The only time they send anyone in here without at least a six person guard is when they are trying to get me to mate," Naruto looked the man up and down. "I gotta say, you're prettier than the others." Naruto slowly levered himself away from the wall, his gaze flickering to the insignia that was on the dark-haired man's uniform. "But somehow, I doubt they would send one of the police elite for me to fuck. Especially not one of the last two holders of the Sharingan bloodline. Which is really a pity, if you ask me."

The man's eyes did not show the slightest flicker of emotion but the beautiful mouth twisted into a slight smirk. "You know who I am."

The man's voice was deep and rich and Naruto felt the first real stirrings of arousal that he had ever felt for another being. This man was _worthy_. The predator that had been encoded into Naruto's psyche unfurled as he slowly walked toward the man, drawing in a deep breath, his lips parted slightly to get every element of the man's scent. There was not even the slightest hint of fear or anxiety. Only the most subtle scent identifying the man's flesh, but none of the chemical markers that emotions produced.

"I know you are one of the two remaining of the Regime's original bloodline… but I don't know your name," Naruto murmured as he circled around the man, his eyes taking in the lean, muscular build of the shoulders and back, clearly visible despite the quality weave of the uniform the man was wearing.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Sasuke said, seemingly unfazed by having someone as dangerous as Naruto circling behind him. Naruto felt a heat low in his belly start to coil. He wondered what would happen if he attacked Sasuke now. He knew the room was filled with small ducts that would release a heavy tranquilizer gas that would incapacitate a normal human in under three seconds. He wasn't sure how long he would last, but it would be under a minute. Probably.

He traced his tongue along his lower lip. It wouldn't be any fun to fight the Uchiha if he were unconscious, though. That would defeat the purpose of finding an opponent actually worth fighting. Or fucking.

The other Uchiha had still needed the back-up of his battalion to take Naruto down. Was the younger really strong enough to take him on his own?

"The younger one," Naruto finished his circle, and now stood face-to-face with Sasuke. "Hmm.  Your brother needed to bring his friends when he wanted to play. You think you can handle me on your own?"

Sasuke didn't shift back or tense in any way. He looked at Naruto, letting his gaze travel dismissively over Naruto's half-bare form. "My brother's aim was to take you alive. I have no such restrictions."

Naruto laughed softly, knowing his breath would brush against the man's neck, detecting the slightest ripple of goosebumps on the pale skin when it did.

"Well then," Naruto took a step back and opened his arms wide so Sasuke would have enough space to draw his weapon. "Take your best shot. It takes balls to shoot an animal in a cage. You must be so proud." Naruto didn't bother to hide the sneer in his face and voice.

"If I wanted you dead, I would just have the guards shoot you through the bars," Sasuke's voice was cold. Annoyed. Somehow Naruto didn't think it was entirely directed at him, but he couldn't get enough of a read on the man to be sure. Which was fascinating because Naruto could always get a read on people. It made his dick hard that he couldn't fully do so with Sasuke.

Naruto shrugged, letting his arms drop to his sides as he leaned back against the wall. He was used to being able to read the emotions beneath the surface of others. Their scent always gave them away. He wondered how Sasuke was blocking him, or if it was true that the bloodline bearers of the Regime were all sociopaths with no emotions whatsoever. Naruto didn't particularly care which it was, but he decided he wanted to find out.

Not in here, though.

In the cell, he could only see the parts of Sasuke that Sasuke _allowed_ Naruto to see. Naruto wanted to see _all_ of it. He wanted to see what Sasuke ate, where he slept, how he killed and how he fucked.

Naruto could smell those things on him. Those traces of actions that clung to his clothing and skin despite the application of soap. Though Sasuke had obviously showered, Naruto could tell that he'd fucked a woman last night. And killed someone this morning.

Naruto wanted to see it. To learn it all.

He knew that Sasuke had noticed him studying him. Naruto cocked his head to the side. "So what do you want, then?"

Naruto didn't really care about the answer to the question since he was pretty sure the answer would be a lie but he asked it because he knew it was expected. If Sasuke asked him to do something, Naruto would decide whether to escape before or after doing it. But he'd already made up his mind about what he wanted.

"I am in charge of assessing the battle readiness of all of our weapons. You are simply one of them," Sasuke's voice was devoid of interest.

And he was definitely lying, though he was better at it than most. But the slight, acidic scent of it gave him away.

Naruto let his eyelids fall lazily to half mast, knowing the insult was designed to bait him. And it had worked, but he was pretty sure Sasuke didn't know it. Naruto would definitely be getting him back. He was just smart enough to know to do it in his own time.

"Well, as you can see, I'm still fully… operational," Naruto said mockingly.

"Your medical reports show you've lost three percent of your muscle mass," Sasuke's gaze ran along Naruto's body, but there was no expression in them.

"If you're that worried about it, then just tell my guards to let me out into the weight room once in awhile and I'll be sure to put that right back on. But even three percent down, I could take out an entire battalion of your best un-mod soldiers, _Officer_."

A flash of interest crossed the dark eyes before Sasuke turned and walked back to the door, his palm print activating the locking mechanism. He didn't look back, though Naruto was sure he was fully aware of Naruto's every movement and would not be caught by surprise if Naruto went for him. But that was alright. Naruto had no intentions of breaking out right then. When he went for the Uchiha, he wanted to be able to take his time with it.

"I'll see you around, Sasuke."

That was a promise.

* * *

Naruto looked up at the camera in the corner of his cell. It was only five minutes to the scheduled time when the guards would come to bring his food. He'd considered escaping the same day that Sasuke had come to visit him but that would have been too obvious. It would have drawn attention to his target too early.  If the government figured out what he was after when he escaped, they would end up being annoying about it and getting in his way.

But it was fine. Naruto could be patient. God knows, if there was one skill living your life in a cage had given him, it was patience. So he'd waited three weeks. The warden had given him the perfect excuse when he'd had Naruto's food drugged with a chemical aphrodisiac the day before. Like the fucker really thought Naruto wouldn't smell it?

Naruto had left the food sit in the tray, untouched. The guard who had collected it had told him that the warden said he could choose not to eat but the food would be the same until Naruto agreed to mate one of the females they threw into his cage. Naruto had just flipped the guy off and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. In a way, he supposed, it was amusing. To ensure that there was no genetic modification, the treaty said that any sexual activity of high level G-mods must be recorded to ensure it was 'natural'. Naruto figured it was just a bunch of horny scientists wanting to get their rocks off by watching the G-mods fuck, but whatever. He wasn't going to give them what they wanted.

No. Naruto was going to take what _he_ wanted, instead. He blinked lazily at the camera, watching the small red light blink in its unending notification that he was being monitored. He could hear the sound of the footsteps of the guards approaching. His lips twitched into a small smirk. There was a thirty second delay between the outer lock being opened and reclosed, then the inner lock opening to his cell opening. Naruto carefully counted to twenty-nine. He gave the camera a mock salute as he heard the lock of the inner cell click open.

Then all hell broke loose.

* * *

Naruto drew a deep breath of the crisp evening air. He still hadn't gotten used to being able to do so. He could hear the sound of a helicopter from not very far away, possibly still part of the military special ops search force that was combing the city for him. Possibly just another government drone spying on its citizens in the name of maintaining order. Naruto wasn't worried. He'd broken out of the high security bunker and gone to ground without any problem. He'd long ago figured out where they'd placed the tracking device at the base of his neck and he'd removed it with the blade of one of the guards before he'd ever even left the facility. His enhanced healing abilities ensured that the wound was closed by nightfall and gone completely within three days.

Those government researchers really should have thought things through a bit more when they designed him. They were probably pissing themselves now that their dangerous little weapon had escaped. Naruto had seen the news on the TV in a bar he'd hidden out in on the night he'd escaped. The amount of sheer bullshit the government was putting out to try to explain away what all the SWAT teams were searching the city for without admitting they'd _lost_ their most highly classified G-mod had Naruto laughing into his whiskey. And since they couldn't admit they'd _lost_ him, they couldn't put his picture up either. Too many reporters would remember his face from the war to pretend he was just some random criminal that the government was hunting but the average citizen didn't remember shit like that to recognize him on the street.

It was perfect. The government was basically screwed and Naruto could do whatever the fuck he wanted as long as he wasn't stupid about it. He could hear the surveillance drones coming from ten blocks away and could completely still his breathing to be undetectable from their motion sensors. They were never going to find him.

All of the high priced government equipment might have been useless at finding Naruto, but Naruto had had no trouble finding what _he'd_ wanted. His eyes caught the light of a passing car, reflecting it back like a cat's from the narrow alley where he was hidden from view. He paid the vehicle no mind. His gaze was fixed on the occupants of a sixth-story apartment across the street. His enhanced vision allowed him to easily see into the dimly lit room of the spartan-furnished apartment in the well-guarded building in the heart of the city. Only elite government officials or high ranking members of the military police force lived inside. Half of that building was probably focused on finding Naruto at the moment. They really should be paying better attention. But Naruto didn't really give a fuck about the rest of the inhabitants. He was only interested in one.

The soft rain rolled down over Naruto's cheekbones, dripping from the sharp line of his jaw onto the collar of his equally soaked leather coat. He didn't notice it, or the drop in temperature in the air as the storm moved through. His body was built to weather worse. _Had_ weathered worse.

His eyes were latched on Sasuke, the way the muscles of his shoulders and arms clenched and flexed beneath the milky-smooth skin as he thrust into the naked woman on his bed. His dark eyes were locked down on her, cold and devoid of any emotion or affection. Naruto watched the way Sasuke's hips thrust again and again with brutal force. Naruto shivered, but not from the cold.

He wished he could smell it.

He ran the tip of his tongue over his lower lip as he remembered the scent of the elite officer that had entered his cell. It was amazing what you could tell about a person from their smell. Scent wasn't like sight. Your eyes could be tricked. Your ears could be lied to. But scent…. scents never lied. And the memory of Sasuke's fucking _scent_ had been driving Naruto crazy for weeks. Naruto could only imagine it now, with Sasuke naked and covered in sweat and the heat of sex.

He wanted _that._ All the others that they'd sent to Naruto's cell to get him to fuck them, to mate with them in the hopes of carrying on his genetic traits…. Naruto hadn't wanted any of them. They had all smelled… weak. Naruto had no interest in breeding more monsters for the government to imprison and use. Being attracted to another male just made it all the better.

He watched as Sasuke picked up the hooker he'd purchased, forcing her legs to wrap around his waist as he picked her up from the bed taking the five short steps required to slam her against the wall and fuck her hard into it.

Naruto could see the way she tensed against him, clearly unhappy with the rough treatment. A shame, really. Sasuke was holding back so much. It didn't really look like it was much fun. Sasuke's body clenched as he finished and he instantly released the woman's thighs. The hooker glared at Sasuke as she stumbled, barely preventing herself from falling.

There was no satisfaction on Sasuke's expressionless face. If anything, Naruto thought he saw a flash of frustration that was gone as soon as it had come, replaced by the cold control that the elite officer was always cloaked in. Sasuke picked something up from the floor and tossed it at the woman. Naruto realized it was the woman's clothing. She said something to him as she pulled on her clothing. Sasuke ignored whatever it was that she'd said, counting out some bills from the wallet that had been on his nightstand and tossing them on the bed before turning and walking out of the room. Naruto saw a light in an adjacent window go on, where Sasuke walked into the kitchen, pouring himself what looked to be a glass of whiskey.

The woman watched him leave the bedroom, her eyes following the perfect lines of his body. He didn't even glance back at her, and her face showed her displeasure. She turned and picked up the money, counting the bills quickly then tucking them into the small purse she carried with her. Sasuke ignored her completely as she left his apartment, simply finishing his drink before he walked to the door of what Naruto assumed to be a shower, likely to scrub himself clean.

Naruto hummed softly to himself. He understood Sasuke's frustration. He'd felt it himself. Sasuke needed someone who could match him. Why did he bother fucking these weak bodies that couldn't keep up? Naruto would be able to handle whatever Sasuke had. Sasuke could fuck him into the wall so hard it would crack the concrete, and Naruto would be able to flip him over, pin him to the floor and fuck him right back.

A low growl rumbled in his throat at the thought. Naruto felt a heat building in his groin and realized he was rubbing himself through his jeans. He blew out a huff, his head snapping up as the door to Sasuke's apartment building opened and the woman he'd been watching a minute ago walked down the steps.

Naruto hesitated only a moment, then was in motion, peeling off the leather jacket he wore and carrying it with him. The rain was coming down harder and the few people who were out in the street were all running with their heads down, seeking shelter from the storm. Naruto blended in, seamlessly mimicking the pace and posture of those around him, holding his jacket over his head as though trying to get some protection from the rain.

He didn't need to look up to know that the woman he'd seen exiting Sasuke's apartment was only a few feet away from him now. He could smell her. Or - more specifically - he could smell Sasuke on her skin. She had the small purse clutched over her head as she ran towards the nearest taxi stand. Naruto didn't even have to change his trajectory before she bumped into him.

"Sorry, I…," she began, about to continue running when she stopped, looking directly up at Naruto's face despite the rain. Naruto could tell exactly when his scent registered. He'd known he'd only have a couple of seconds before she'd move on, so he'd removed his jacket to make sure nothing blocked his amped up pheromones from reaching her nose. She wouldn't actually _smell_ him… not the way he could smell her. But the receptors in her nose would register his presence, and a chemical reaction in her brain would be triggered that for most females would register pretty directly as _mate._ Her eyes dilated and she breathed in more deeply, trying to draw more of him in like a child breathing in the scent of freshly baked cookies. 

It was the same reaction he'd seen on the women they'd forced into being with him. The only reason he hadn't really fought back against it. The women - at least - weren't being coerced. They'd wanted him. Just as this woman did.

But unlike the other women that he'd rejected, this one was covered in Sasuke's scent. Naruto wondered if he licked her, would he taste Sasuke's sweat on her skin. She looked up at him, pulling her lower hip between her sharp, white teeth.

"Hey. I was… going to get a cab. You look like you need to get out of the rain. Were you… headed anywhere?" she seemed slightly dazed as she spoke, and Naruto realized that his own state of arousal had probably only heightened his pheromone levels. It didn't work on men, since their brain chemistry was hard-wired to register him as a potential threat. But women posed no difficulty for him. The lab scientists had made sure that their little monsters would have no trouble breeding an entire army for them.

Naruto leaned in closer, drawing in a deep breath at the base of her neck. He could smell Sasuke on her skin, his scent soaked into her hair and clothing, but it was faint. Sasuke hadn't touched her there. But he knew where Sasuke _had_ touched her. And as soon as they got back to her place, Naruto would be able to find out if he could still taste him on her. The thought made him so fucking hard. He was having too much fun with the chase to actually go after Sasuke directly yet. Naruto wanted to learn everything about the man first. But maybe this woman would be able to give him just enough of a taste to hold his patience for a while.

"I'll go wherever you're heading," Naruto replied, sliding his hand along the small of her back, feeling her body shiver, the scent of her arousal reaching him even through the heavy rain.

* * *

_To be continued…._

**A/N:** ok, so... you should now have a pretty good sense of what this fic will be. It will only get more disturbing from here on out, so if this made you uncomfortable, you should dismount now.  There will be graphic depictions of sex (including some of the sex with hookers) and obviously with Naruto and Sasuke and THAT will be VERY VIOLENT.  There will be other scenes of violence and killing and very bad things in this fic.  Also, it will be updated pretty slowly, since I am focusing on Fades right now, but I think it's ok because this is not a very complicated *cough* plot or anything so it won't matter if you don't remember EXACTLY what happens from one chapter to the next.  This is an expansion of my drabble that was posted on my website and won the most votes for me to continue.  So, here it is!  Ta-dah!!! LOL.  If you want to check out the drabbles that didn't make the cut, you can find them on my website:  [kizukatana.wordpress.com](kizukatana.wordpress.com)


	2. I see you

**Warning:** Graphic depictions of violence.  Naruto is crazy. Sasuke probably is, too

* * *

**Chapter 2 -  I see you**

It was still an hour before dawn when Naruto let himself out of the small, vacant apartment he had found. A few days of walking the halls of some of the nearby buildings where security wasn't as tight had led him to an apartment that was free of any recent scent of occupancy. Naruto had made sure there were no security cameras pointing at him before carefully forcing the lock and going inside. All the furniture was covered with white dust cloths, a sign that the owners were likely on an extended vacation or deceased. Either would explain the lack of scent of any recent occupant. He had even managed to find a spare key to the place on a hook by the door, making it even easier to come and go as he pleased. Naruto made himself at home there each day for the few hours he needed to sleep, safely away from police or drones.

He had better things to occupy his time. It was an unusual feeling for him. To actually _want_ something. Naruto had been raised in the genetic research facility like all the other G-mods. He'd never had any other sort of home or family, trained only as a weapon. Before the war, the training had been relentless. There had been no time to think of anything else, no opportunity to think about what he might be interested in other than war. What did a weapon need with hobbies or other interests?

After the war, the training had stopped. Some of the less dangerous G-mods were given civilian tasks, but Naruto was deemed too dangerous for that. He hadn't questioned it. After all, what did he know? He'd had more than enough evidence just how dangerous he was. He didn't try to fool himself that he could ever be like a 'normal' person with any sort of a normal life.

He hadn't really resented the confinement. Not really. Not most days. Who was he to question? He was just a weapon. It was literally in his DNA.

But now…. Now he was still a weapon, but he was a weapon with a hobby. An interest other than war. He didn't know what he would do when this fixation passed, but it was the first thing that he could honestly say was completely his own. He was not following anyone's order as he kept his vigilant watch on his new hobby. This was a secret all his own, and something inside of him clutched at it hungrily. He knew he would never be a normal person. But he could have _this._ Even if just for a little while. He would allow himself this one experience.

Naruto sat perfectly still on the concrete ledge six stories up, hidden in the shadow of the alley directly across the street from Sasuke's bedroom window. The grey cap and clothing he wore covered his hair, blending in with the concrete of the buildings and rooftops. The amber glow of the streetlight cascaded into the darkened bedroom and pooled over the supple sheet that covered the man sleeping on the large bed, casting shadows and highlights over the contours of the man's sculpted arms.

Naruto's eyes moved almost reverently over the still form, memorizing every detail, imprinting it indelibly in his memory. Sasuke always slept completely still, the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest the only motion of his form. After days of watching Sasuke both sleeping and waking, Naruto had decided that Sasuke's utter stillness at rest was more due to discipline rather than 'peacefulness'. The man seemed to make no wasted movements, even in his sleep.

Naruto ran his tongue along his lower lip, the cool pre-dawn mist making his lips feel slightly raw. The sound of the rotary blades of a drone chopper caused him to freeze into absolute stillness - no motion detectable - on the off chance that the surveillance device passed over his hiding spot. The sound faded and Naruto allowed his breathing to resume.

It was only forty minutes until Sasuke's alarm would go off. For the past eight days that Naruto had been watching him, Sasuke woke at exactly six am every morning. Naruto enjoyed watching Sasuke work. But there was a secret glee he had when he watched Sasuke sleep. The man's face had lost its hard, predatory edge, though it would never fully soften. Naruto wanted to keep the image of Sasuke's face relaxed in sleep stored all to himself. It was one of his favorite images of the man, one that he knew very few people were allowed to see. Sasuke never let his 'guests' stay the night, at least not since Naruto had begun observing him.

In the eight days Naruto had been observing Sasuke, the only people to come to his apartment were whores. All Sasuke's business was conducted outside of his home, and if the elite officer had friends, they hadn't shown up yet. It interested Naruto that Sasuke was almost as isolated as Naruto had been. Naruto wondered if it was by choice, but it seemed likely. He had seen the way women's eyes would follow Sasuke on the street. The man certainly would not have to pay for companionship. Naruto had the sense that Sasuke hired hookers more to pay them to leave then to get them to come. He wondered if Sasuke found the lovers he took as dissatisfying as Naruto had found the potential mates that had been forced into his cell.

It was definitely a question he planned on asking the man.

Naruto flexed his fingers to keep them from stiffening up in the cold. He could see the perfect bone structure of Sasuke's hands as they rested lightly on the sheet that was gathered at his waist. The smooth, pale skin of his toned chest looked luminescent in the soft light. Naruto studied it all, taking in every angle, every curve, every ridge... the thin trail of black hair that started below Sasuke's navel and disappeared beneath the sheet.

The sun slowly rose as he watched. Waiting. Observing. Studying.

Naruto couldn't hear Sasuke's alarm through the thick, bulletproof glass of his window, but Naruto knew the instant it went off. Sasuke's brow, originally smooth and relaxed in sleep, abruptly creased slightly in annoyance before his eyes opened. After a brief pause, his pale hand reached out and presumably shut off the alarm. Naruto felt his lips twitch into a grin like he had since the first morning he'd watch him wake.

Evidently Sasuke wasn't a morning person.

The elite officer didn't let that slow him down, though. Sasuke never wasted time lazing about in bed, no matter how late his night had been the day before. He folded the red silk covers aside and swung his legs over the side of the bed as he picked up the sleek looking device that he kept with him at all times.

Naruto assumed it was for military communications, but the device's screen had some sort of polarization to it and Naruto had never been able to read anything at all even when he'd gotten quite close once when Sasuke was on patrol. The screen only allowed someone from the angle directly in front of it to see anything other than a slate of unbroken black. Naruto didn't mind, though. He wasn't interested in whatever secrets or orders were contained in the device. He was only interested in watching what Sasuke did about them. Sasuke never showed any sort of surprise or concern or anxiousness as he scrolled through the messages that awaited him in the mornings. His face always remained focused and controlled, no emotion at all flickering across the perfect features as he read.

Naruto waited patiently, taking in the way the muscles beneath Sasuke's back flexed and stretched beneath his skin as he moved. When Sasuke was done reading from the device, he set it back on the nightstand.

Naruto watched with unwavering attention as Sasuke rose and stretched, his naked form fully bared to Naruto's hungry gaze as he rolled his sculpted shoulders, the contours of his back shifting in sheer perfection in the soft light that shone through his window. Everything about Sasuke was toned and hard, like a marble statue. Pale and beautiful. And utterly ruthless as he picked up the automatic weapon that was resting on the nightstand beside his bed, checking it with the same practiced movements every morning before walking over to the bathroom and closing the door, temporarily blocking Naruto's view.

Naruto had watched many people admire Sasuke's physical beauty. But that was only a very minor part of what drew Naruto to him. It was Sasuke's lethal control, deadly grace... and something else that Naruto didn't even understand but could not break free from. If he could just figure out what Sasuke's hold on him was, Naruto was sure he would be able to overcome it. He just needed to watch him a little bit more to discover it.

Once he did, Naruto could go to ground, somewhere safely out of the city and the iron fist of the government that no longer had any use for him.

Naruto let himself down from the ledge, already knowing that Sasuke would emerge exactly twenty minutes later and put his black officer's uniform on before setting off on whatever mission had been assigned to him. It was light enough now that Sasuke might be able to see him from his hiding place, and Naruto didn't want to take any chances. Not with those eyes. He jogged easily down the street to a building that had easy roof access. He would follow Sasuke through the congested city streets roof-top to roof-top, his enhanced speed combined with the fact that he wouldn't have to deal with traffic easily allowing him to keep pace with Sasuke's motorcycle. It would make it harder for Sasuke to notice him and decrease the chances of Naruto losing sight of Sasuke in the jammed streets. As long as Naruto steered clear of the drones, he would be fine.

Naruto ignored all others as he waited. No one had ever drawn his interest the way Sasuke had, gripped him with such fierce obsession. No one's scent had called to his blood the way Sasuke's did. The others faded from his memory almost as soon as they entered it. Only Sasuke remained fixed.

Naruto's body tensed as he caught a scent he had not detected since he broke out of the research facility where he'd been held.

 _G-mod._ And a powerful one. Naruto's eyes immediately flashed to red as he scanned the surrounding rooftops and streets, but the scent faded as quickly as it had come. He had made sure to cause enough collateral damage to the facility that any of his brethren who were on their toes could have made it out in the ensuing chaos. Naruto hoped at least a few might have, but he hadn't been sure. And of course, the government-run news wasn't about to let any information about a fuck-up _that_ big slip. Naruto's lips twitched into a smile at the new knowledge that at least one of his brothers or sisters was running around the city with him.

Served the government right to lose their toys if they weren't smart enough to keep track of them. He frowned slightly at the thought that the other G-mod could possibly also be after Sasuke. The city was huge, and their presence this close to his quarry made him on edge. Sasuke was _his_. But he was sure his sibling had caught Naruto's scent just as he had caught theirs. If they had thoughts about going after Sasuke, Naruto had already clearly called dibs. They would back off.

He leaned back into the shadows of a heating vent on the roof, waiting for Sasuke to appear on the streets below.

* * *

Naruto crinkled his nose at the sharp, acrid scent coming from down the block. Even from the rooftop where he was crouched, the ammonia and ether fumes of what Naruto guessed was a meth lab turned his stomach. It was the downside of an overly sensitive nose.

He didn't let it distract him from watching the scene unfolding below where Sasuke was approaching a group of four armed officers guarding a dilapidated building with boarded-up windows and large signs saying 'No Smoking' and 'Beware of Dog' posted near the entrance. Sasuke's black uniform seemed to absorb all the light in the area, giving a menacing air as he strode forward. The dark fabric hugged his body, doing nothing to disguise the lethal strength it encased. Naruto could see the subtle shift and flex of the muscles in Sasuke's back and thighs as he moved, the subtle tensing indicating that he was preparing to fight.

Naruto wished - not for the first time - that he had seen Sasuke in battle during the war. He didn't particularly care if they had fought together or against each other. He just wanted to have _seen_ it. The minor skirmishes that Sasuke fought now weren't worthy of him. They didn't really test him. Not the way Naruto wanted to. Naruto's body hummed at the thought. Who would break first? Naruto had never had to wonder if he would come out the victor in a battle. Not once.

Until Sasuke. And it fascinated him. He felt his groin stir at the thought, but forced himself to focus. Now was not the time. Not yet.

Naruto noted that Sasuke still hadn't drawn his weapon. In all the time he had observed Sasuke, the man had only drawn it once. Sasuke seemed to prefer killing with his hands rather than a gun. It was something Naruto could respect. Less chance of killing the wrong person. Less noise. And definitely more challenge. Any pussy can pull a trigger. It took skill to kill with your hands.

Sasuke paused, slowly turning to look behind him in the general direction of where Naruto was hiding, as though he had felt the brush of Naruto's gaze across his skin. Naruto stilled completely, slowing even his heartrate. This wasn't the first time that Sasuke had seemed to sense him.

Sasuke's instincts were _excellent_.

Naruto felt a thrill of adrenaline rush through him at the look in Sasuke's black eyes as they scanned the area. Lethal. Ruthless. Confident. And utterly without fear. The sight was addictive, and Naruto couldn't get enough of it. Naruto slid his tongue along the top edge of his teeth, torn between disappointment and relief as Sasuke turned back towards the meth lab. Naruto wasn't ready to be discovered quite yet, but he secretly hoped Sasuke would do so anyway.

Sasuke continued toward the men who had paused in whatever conversation they had been having to watch his approach. Naruto could tell the instant that the men realized who Sasuke was by the sudden stench of absolute terror that flooded the alley, overpowering the smell of the meth lab that they were guarding. Even from where he was crouched four stories up and two blocks away, Naruto could taste it at the back of his throat.

The hands of all four men went to their weapons, but foolishly, none of them drew to shoot, thinking they might be able to negotiate.

Sasuke never negotiated.

One of the men approached Sasuke, his hands placating, smile oily. So fucking stupid. Naruto would have rolled his eyes except that he didn't want to miss anything. The man was dead before he hit the ground, Sasuke's hands shooting out lightning fast and snapping his neck. Only Naruto's enhanced eyes allowed him to see the movement at all. The three other officers seemed frozen in shock, but in reality they had hesitated only an instant. It was enough, though, and Sasuke had ripped the weapon from one man's hands, slamming it into the throat of another and crushing his windpipe in under a second before grabbing the other by throat and slamming him to the ground, unmoving. The sound of two bodies hitting the ground covered any noise Sasuke's black boots made as he stepped towards the final, now weaponless man and snapped his neck like he did the first. Naruto hummed in appreciation of the fluid, lethal stride. Sasuke hadn't even drawn his weapon, and four fully trained men now lay as corpses on the dirty street.

It had been over so quickly that the men hadn't even been able to call for help. Sasuke glanced up and down the street to ensure he hadn't missed a lookout stationed further away, but Naruto already knew there was none. The men had obviously been confident in their superior skill and firepower to keep their little side-project safe.

The city was rife with drugs, most of them sold by the state to keep the population happy and easily controlled. Naruto guessed that the officers were running a meth lab without the government's permission, trying to make some extra money by not having to give the powers-that-be their cut. The State owned everything from food to sex to drugs. Nothing happened in the city that they didn't control. Which was likely why Sasuke got the call.

Naruto watched as Sasuke pulled out a cigarette, standing just outside the doorway of the meth house as he lit it. He calmly opened the door, the fumes of the ether and other solvents so thick they caused the air to shimmer briefly. There was a shout from inside as Sasuke drew his gun and shot, the sound of glass shattering just as Sasuke flicked the lit cigarette inside. The heavy door swung closed as he nimbly leapt back away from the building.

The subsequent explosion was mostly contained by the structure, the boarded-up windows slowing the shattered glass. Sasuke watched dispassionately from across the street as flames spiraled up from the building. He took another cigarette and lit it, taking a single drag then crushing it under the heel of his boot as he turned and walked back towards his motorcycle. Naruto wondered if Sasuke had left his DNA behind so the police would know this was a government operation and not pursue civilians to find the cause of the fire.

Sasuke paused as he reached down to pick up his helmet. The eyes that had been black throughout the entire confrontation suddenly spun red and looked directly to Naruto's hiding place on the roof.

It was too late to avoid being seen entirely, but Naruto still hit the ground, laying flat on his stomach on the rooftop, the edge of the building cutting off Sasuke's line of sight to him. Naruto heard the sound of the helmet hitting the concrete, and didn't need to hear the sound of running feet to know that Sasuke had made him.

Naruto grinned, impressed. There was no way Sasuke should have been able to sense him. He didn't have Naruto's enhanced sense of scent, and Naruto hadn't made a sound, had stayed downwind, and out of line of sight at all times. Naruto rolled along the rooftop until he was behind a ventilation shaft, then stood to a low crouch and sprinted across the rooftop, leaping to a neighboring building. He could hear Sasuke running along the street below, following him, and it sent a spike of heat through his blood, settling low into his groin.

He ran diagonally across the top of the next building, knowing Sasuke would have to take the longer path around the perimeter along the sidewalks below. Naruto landed on the next building, using the few seconds his enhanced speed and his shortcut had given him to look back at the man pursuing him.

Sasuke was coming down the street at a dead sprint, and still managed to get a shot off that would have landed squarely between Naruto's eyes if his reflexes hadn't let him dodge it. Naruto laughed as he turned and ran diagonally again, letting his speed out fully. As good as those eyes were, they couldn't see through concrete. Eventually, Naruto would be able to lose him.

It was twelve blocks of sheer sprinting and constantly changing direction and two close calls with a drone before Naruto was sure he had managed to lose Sasuke. He slowed his pace, slipping into the shadows by a large duct of the rooftop he was on, slowing his breathing and listening for the sound of drones or boots.

There was nothing.

He lay down on his back on the final rooftop, a wide grin splitting his face. He wondered if Sasuke had been able to make out his features. The grey cap Naruto wore would have disguised his hair color, and facial features were harder to make out from the distance Sasuke had been, even with his eyes as they were. Still, if Sasuke was as smart as everyone claimed him to be, he would probably be able to tell it was not a normal human who had been able to run at a sprint across rooftops for that long. Naruto hoped Sasuke knew it was him. It had been getting boring just watching with no response.

Now they would both be playing the game, and it would be much more interesting.

Naruto relaxed in the late morning sun. He'd have to be extra careful when he returned to watch Sasuke in his apartment that evening. Sasuke knew Naruto was watching him now. The thought sent a rush of anticipation through Naruto's blood, causing his toes to curl in his shoes.

Finally, he would get to see how much of a predator Sasuke really was. Would he hunt Naruto in return? Or would he call the G-mod research facility and bring the army down on Naruto's head, hiding behind them for safety?

He couldn't wait to find out. But somehow, Naruto couldn't imagine those cold, fearless black eyes hiding behind another soldier's gun. He hoped he was right.

Naruto walked over to the steel door that led from the roof back into the building. If Sasuke had notified the military, the skies would be swarming with drones soon. The door was locked, so Naruto climbed into one of the large ventilation shafts, crawling along the ducting until he found a quiet hallway to pop the grate from one of the ducts and walk calmly out of the building before heading home to shower.

* * *

Naruto carefully approached the alley that was across from Sasuke's apartment, his senses on high alert. If Sasuke had called in the military, they would be waiting for him. He was pretty sure he'd be able to escape whatever trap that they laid out, but it didn't hurt to be careful. Warfare in city streets was a totally different game than on an open field, surrounded by an entire battalion of troops and nowhere to find cover. They couldn't use the same tactics they had used to capture him before without taking out half the city.

Naruto's eyes were red as they scanned the streets and sky, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. His eyes ran along every angle of the surrounding the buildings, looking for any sign of new cameras or wall-mounted weapons, but found nothing.

The only thing that had changed was that the lights were on in Sasuke's bedroom. Usually the man kept them off, Naruto assumed because - with the Uchiha eyes - they were not really needed. Now they were on full, the curtains open, making it even easier for someone watching from outside the bulletproof glass to see in.

Sasuke was sitting in his chair, doing his nightly cleaning and maintenance of his weapon. His face was calm and unconcerned. His eyes flickered briefly to the window, a ruthless look of amusement in them before he went back to cleaning his gun.  Sasuke clearly wasn't going to hide.  He also wasn't going to call for help.  Naruto should have known Sasuke would not disappoint him.

Naruto chuckled softly, his blood buzzing in anticipation at the message that Sasuke was clearly sending him:

_Bring it._

* * *

_To be continued…._

A/N:  Next chapter will have very disturbing content.


	3. Hide and seek

**A/N:** So I had to rewrite this chapter from scratch because Google doesn't want to give me access to gdocs while I'm traveling in Asia (unless I give them my cell, which is my work cell so... no.  LOLOL).  So this is almost a week later than it would have been, but it is up! 

 **Warning** :  UN-BETA'D.  Tiny amount of blood play.  Licking.  Violence.  Nothing you can't handle if you've made it this far.  Really disturbing stuff isn't in this chapter yet.

* * *

**Chapter 3 - Hide and Seek**

Naruto was restless as he lay in his borrowed bed, blue eyes briefly glancing over through the darkness of the room to look at the clock. He decided that the four hours of sleep he'd forced upon himself were going to have to be sufficient to restore his body's energy and focus. There was no way in hell he could stay in bed any longer. His blood had been humming all night, wired like he'd been mainlining caffeine. Or lightening. The encounter with Sasuke had left him on edge feeling almost giddy, but he had forced himself to return to his temporary lair to think things through rather than breaking into Sasuke's apartment and confronting him immediately. He had _wanted_ to, though. He'd wanted to just go for it and screw the fleet of military that would come down on him within five minutes of his setting foot in that heavily guarded building.

That reality not what deterred him, though. He'd fought and won against greater odds. No, what had convinced him to go hold off was his desire to see Sasuke in action. Sasuke had made it perfectly clear they night before that he was aware Naruto was following him. What would the elite officer do about it? Naruto wanted to know. So he had suppressed his gut instinct to just charge in and wing it. It would be much more interesting to see what Sasuke did now that he was aware of Naruto's presence than to force his hand and control the play himself.

But Naruto was shit at waiting.

There had been a tiny hope that - somehow - Sasuke would have been able to guess where he was staying and show up during the night, but it hadn't happened. That was ok, though. The anticipation was still there, even if Sasuke couldn't psychically track him through the city, Naruto would bet his ass that Sasuke was looking for him. Hunting him or laying a trap. Either would be interesting.

Naruto's senses were on high alert now that Sasuke had joined the game, and he had slept knowing he would need awaken at the slightest shift of air in the still apartment. But there had been nothing. So Naruto had rested the minimal amount needed to keep his mind sharp. When he woke, he had laid in bed and mentally reviewed everything he knew about the Uchiha bloodline as he tried to guess what advantage Sasuke might try to use. Naruto had been briefed on all of the highest ranking officers in the military before the war as part of combat training. His job - had the war continued - would have been to supplement their strength with his own. He was therefore aware of Sasuke's acute vision, photographic memory, and far above average physical dexterity and mental acuity.

But none of that explained how Sasuke had _sensed_ him. Instinct? It could be. Sasuke had been in enough battles to have honed them. He added that to the things he wanted to find out before he left the city and Sasuke behind him. They had done battle simulations and 'war games' in the training facility, but nothing had been as exhilarating as this. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had... fun. He was aware that most people wouldn't consider stalking and being stalked by one of the most lethal members of the military police fun, but Naruto had never held any expectations of being like other people. He had found something he liked, and he was going to let himself have the full experience, just this once.

Deciding he had waited long enough to resume the game, Naruto walked over to the shower and turned the water on. He replayed his encounter with Sasuke over and over in his mind, embedding everything he'd learned about Sasuke into his head. Stepping under the heated spray, Naruto grinned as he remembered the deadly aim Sasuke had been able to pull off, even when running at top speed. He soaped himself up, enjoying the strange feeling of privacy of being able to bathe unmonitored... to do _anything_ unmonitored, actually... something that had never happened in his existence before his escape. The cameras in his cell had seen every corner and had never taken their electronic gaze off him. To experience complete privacy gave all his actions a secret thrill, knowing that they were hidden, unobserved, unrecorded. And most importantly, they were all his own. He was doing what _he_ wanted, not what someone had ordered or scheduled for him.

The freedom was addictive. He knew that – if he were being fully rational – he would quit this dangerous fascination with the Uchiha officer, escape from the city and go to ground. The longer he stayed here, with the government's cameras and drones and soldiers everywhere, the more likely it was that he would end up recaptured or killed. But he just couldn't quite walk away yet.

 _One more week_ , he decided. He would allow himself one more week to get his fix of watching Sasuke, then he would leave and forget the war and the fucking society that had created then abandoned him. Maybe he would try to track down some of the other G-mods that had escaped and see if they wanted to go with him, though it wasn't likely any of them were still sticking around. It had been a while since he'd sensed one.

He just needed to see this play out just a little bit more, then he could go.

Despite his distracted thoughts, Naruto kept his ears tuned for any sound of entry into the apartment he was 'borrowing' as he let his body relax in the shower. He wasn't foolish enough to think that Sasuke didn't pose a risk to him. An image of Sasuke's eyes the moment they had locked with his flashed through his memory, causing his body to tense both in acknowledgement of the threat Sasuke represented, but also… something else. Naruto closed his eyes, remembering how Sasuke's eyes had widened fractionally in surprise for barely an instant before narrowing with killing intent. Naruto let his hand drift lower, feeling his body already responding to the memory in a way he had never reacted to anyone else.

There hadn't been an ounce of fear or hesitation in the dark eyes that had swirled red. Even when Naruto had been a child, people had looked upon Naruto with fear. Which only made sense. He was born and bred to be a weapon. A monster. He'd forced himself to accept that reality.

But Sasuke didn't fear him. Sasuke had walked into his cell, knowing fully just what Naruto was, and hadn't feared him.

Naruto's hand tightened around his cock. He wondered if Sasuke had figured out it was Naruto who was following him yet. It would be a pity if Sasuke backed down once he did. Naruto thought back to the way Sasuke had killed the guards with ruthless precision outside of the meth lab, Naruto's hand on his shaft speeding up as he recalled the lethal, fluid lines of Sasuke's body. Naruto leaned back against the cool, tile walls of the shower, his body tensing as he reached his release. He let he water wash over him, carrying the evidence of his obsession down the drain along with the soap from his skin.

He had to see Sasuke again.

He needed to know how the man would react once he knew for sure who Naruto was. He decided to go early to his usual spot outside of Sasuke's apartment to see what the elite officer would do. Sasuke had issued the challenge yesterday, but that didn't mean he would sit back and wait for Naruto make the next move. Something told him Sasuke wasn't the kind of opponent who let someone else call the shots.

Naruto couldn't wait.

* * *

He left his apartment and headed in the opposite direction from Sasuke's home, making a wide circle to ensure his approach – if observed – would not lead anyone back to his current hiding place. He kept a wary eye on the rooftops and skies, alert for anyone following or monitoring him from the air, but there was nothing to be seen. He began to wonder if maybe Sasuke had assumed he had run Naruto off… that perhaps the man hadn't been as aware as Naruto had thought he was that he had been being followed for days. A shadow of disappointment flickered through him. Maybe he had over-estimated the man.

As soon as Naruto approached the alley, the hairs on the back of his neck prickled. He froze, his eyes bleeding red as they scanned the area. Nothing moved. There was no sound. No scent that didn't belong.

But Naruto knew in his bones that he wasn't alone.

A slow grin spread across his face as he stood utterly still, his breathing almost imperceptible as he listened. Waited. He could hear the sound of a drone in the distance, the sound of cars on the gradually awakening streets. He slowly moved forward, his feet soundless on the concrete, his body poised for battle. He thought about Sasuke's toned form, how his muscles always tensed with controlled power the just before he would attack. Was Sasuke watching him now, the way Naruto had watched him, with his body poised just like that?

Naruto's lips parted slightly and he drew in a deep breath, hoping to taste Sasuke's scent on the night air, but there was nothing. Wherever he was, Sasuke was either downwind from him or too far to scent yet. Naruto looked around. The alleyway was the worst position tactically for him to launch any kind of attack from. There were too many positions above him that would allow Sasuke free range with his weapon while Naruto would be basically just pinned down with no chance of striking back. He had to get off the ground.

Naruto looked up at the concrete ledge of a window about eight feet above him. It was deep in the shadows, all light from the nearby streetlight blocked by the wall and a large dumpster. Naruto fluidly leapt up and gripped the ledge before he began to silently scale the building. His fingers found purchase in the tiny grooves of the mortar between the bricks. He kept to the shadows, going up only two stories before silently pulling himself up onto another window ledge. He could see the light on Sasuke's usually dark apartment was turned on despite it being still more than two hours before sunrise. Even though he was too low to see fully into the room, he knew Sasuke wasn't there. The arrogance of the gesture shot a thrill of adrenaline down Naruto's spine, leaving his fingers and toes buzzing.

Sasuke was out hunting for him, and taunting him with it.

Naruto's grin widened and he felt his blood heat at the thought. Of course, Sasuke was only responding to a perceived threat, not indulging in anything like what _Naruto_ was. But that was all right. For the moment, Naruto had Sasuke's full focus. Sasuke had acknowledged him as an adversary worthy of his personal attention and Naruto was going to enjoy every fucking second of it, even if all Sasuke wanted was to put a bullet in him. Sasuke was not going to be screwing around. He would be going for the kill, unless he had orders to take Naruto alive. Naruto frowned, not liking the idea of anyone tying Sasuke's hands like that. Sasuke had told him with derision that Itachi's orders had been to take Naruto alive, which had been why he'd needed his battalion. Of course, Sasuke had also said he had no such orders. If that was still true, it would make this much more fun.

Naruto's genetically enhanced eyes allowed him to see despite the deep shadows of the alley, confirming that Sasuke wasn't at ground level. From this height, Naruto would be able to see into all the hiding places. A quick scan of the surrounding buildings showed nothing. Which meant that either Sasuke was inside one of the darkened windows, or he was on the roof.

Naruto parted his lips slightly and slowly drew in a breath, closing his eyes as he concentrated on filtering out the smell of car exhaust, the trash from the alley below, all of the background scents, until he found it. He had to bite back a sound of pleasure as the cold, hard scent of Sasuke hit his system. It was faint, meaning Sasuke wasn't close, but he was definitely outside and not behind a closed window. Naruto glanced upward. The roof, then.

He swallowed the excess saliva that had hit his tongue as soon as he had recognized the scent. His body coiled with adrenaline at the thought of finally getting to test Sasuke's mettle. Luckily, Naruto had stuck to the deep shadows so there was a decent chance that Sasuke hadn't seen him yet. Sasuke would have to be watching multiple streets for his arrival since he didn't know which direction Naruto would be coming from. Unfortunately, the streetlight outside the alley threw just enough light that - if Naruto kept climbing up towards the roof - Sasuke would definitely see him before he reached the top. All it would take would be one leisurely shot while Naruto dangled from the edge of the building. Naruto would be a sitting duck.

He had to even the playing field a bit to counter Sasuke's positional advantage. Naruto reached into his pocket, pulling out the broken chunk of brick he'd picked up on his way here. It would be a risky move, since there was no way that Sasuke would miss the sound of shattering glass, but Naruto had to chance it. Maybe he could even use the distraction to his advantage. He scanned the face of the building from the ledge he was sitting on until he saw what he was looking for: an open window. It was only one story up from where he was, and still had a decent angle for hitting the streetlight. Naruto made his way over to the window, sliding it open enough that he would be able to easily slip inside after throwing the brick.

He leaned out carefully taking aim at the streetlight, then threw the piece of brick as hard as he could, slipping in through the open window and pulling it silently closed as the sound of breaking glass reached his ears. The alley was instantly plunged deeper into darkness as the light was smashed.

Naruto crouched as he watched the rooftops of the two adjacent buildings, anticipation building as he looked for visual confirmation that the man he'd stalked for almost two weeks was now hunting him back. Of course, there was a chance that Sasuke was on the roof of the building he was currently hiding in, but – either way – the light was out and he would be able to reach the rooftop with relative cover.

Naruto ducked down, motionless, his eyes trained on the darkened rooftops surrounding the alleyway. It didn't take long before a silhouette appeared on one of the rooftops across the street from the building Naruto was hiding in. Naruto traced the tip of his tongue over his lower lip but otherwise held perfectly still, knowing that – even in the darkness – Sasuke's eyes might be able to detect movement if he was looking right at Naruto. The light wasn't enough that he could see Sasuke's features, but he could make out the controlled, coiled posture of Sasuke's body and knew that the man was fully aware that Naruto was in the alley somewhere below him.

Now that Naruto knew for sure which direction Sasuke was focused, he could make his move. He slowly lowered himself out of the line of Sasuke's visibility and turned, quickly scanning the interior of the apartment. There was a man and a woman asleep in the bed in the room he'd entered, but nothing else of interest. He slowly crept to the door of the apartment, quietly letting himself out without the occupants ever noticing his presence. He knew he didn't have much time before Sasuke would determine that Naruto was no longer hiding in the alley. While his attention was focused in one direction, Naruto would approach from another. There was a small window at the end of the hallway, which Naruto quickly unlocked and slid out of. It was on the other side of the building from where Sasuke's attention was currently focused, and Naruto quickly scaled up the three remaining stories to reach the top of the building. He slowly pulled himself up to the rooftop, staying flat on his stomach and scanning the area where he'd last seen Sasuke, but the man was gone.

"Dammit," Naruto cursed softly to himself as he began scanning the area for Sasuke's new location.

The slightest sound from the other side of the roof was the only warning Naruto had before a bullet was ricocheting off the concrete where his head had been only an instant before. Naruto didn't have time to wonder how Sasuke had figured out where he would be coming from when the man _should_ have still be searching the alley below for him. He rolled himself off the edge of the roof, the fastest way to get out of the line of Sasuke's fire, free falling briefly before catching himself on the window ledge one floor down. The concrete abraded his fingers and his shoulders strained at the abrupt jolt that wrenched them as he stopped his descent. He could hear Sasuke running across the roof towards him, so he ignored all of those minor injuries and quickly pulled himself up onto the sill, launching himself over to the sturdy drainage pipe at the corner of the building and pulling himself around the corner and out of immediate sight. He could hear Sasuke's feet slow as the man neared the edge of the building, approaching the edge cautiously, likely looking down to see if Naruto had fallen the six stories to the street below. It wouldn't take him long to notice the lack of body on the pavement.

Of course, Naruto could use the opportunity to get away, but that was of no interest to him. Instead, he silently pulled himself back up onto the rooftop, hiding behind one of the many vent ducts that protruded from the surface. The building must at one point have been some sort of factory, because there were many different sized ducts and chimneys protruding from it. It was the perfect place to play their game. Naruto looked over to where Sasuke was standing, weapon drawn, scanning the streets below.

He felt a surge of pride that as he saw Sasuke's weapon remained in his hand. Sasuke was taking him seriously. Of course, Naruto would prefer to battle hand-to-hand, but he knew he wasn't likely to get it. He'd have to find a way to work around it. He wanted to draw this out as much as possible, to see everything about how Sasuke hunted, how he fought. It was worth the risk of capture.

Naruto reached down, picking up a small rock from the rooftop, throwing it directly at Sasuke's head. Sasuke turned, gun firing, stopping the rock mid-flight and deflecting it before turning his weapon in the direction where the projectile had come from. The motion had been lightning fast, with zero hesitation and deadly accuracy.

Naruto ducked behind the metal duct, impressed despite expecting it. He chuckled softly as he realized that Sasuke's reflexes were faster than his.

"Shit, your reflexes are crazy," Naruto called out as he moved a few feet over, ducking behind a brick chimney.

Sasuke's only response was another laser-precise shot at Naruto's location as Naruto leapt up, rolling over to the other side of the chimney and sprinting to another duct before Sasuke could get a read on his new location. A sharp pain in his shoulder let him know he had been just a bit slow, Sasuke's shot grazing him. The wound wasn't serious, but if he wasn't going to get his ass handed to him, Naruto needed to change the nature of their game. Sasuke had a weapon he could use at long-range and Naruto didn't. Combined with Sasuke's lethal instinct and flawless aim, Naruto was going to be screwed if he didn't think of a new approach.

He silently scaled a large duct next to him, keeping in the deepest shadows. His new vantage point allowed him to watch Sasuke systematically searching the roof for him. Naruto pulled out a cloth bandage that he kept in his jacket pocket, shrugging off one sleeve of his coat to have access to the wound. His blood was valuable, and he didn't want to leave traces of it dripping all over the rooftop for any asshole government agent to come collecting later. He tied the cloth tightly around the gash, holding one end of the bandage between his teeth as he pulled it tight enough to stop the bleeding before tearing it off to the right length. He pulled his jacket back on while he watched Sasuke, drinking in the way the man moved unhesitatingly. He recognized the search pattern Sasuke was using as one he'd learned in an advanced 'search and destroy' mission simulation. Sasuke clearly knew the procedure by rote, but that was no surprise. Naruto's eyes followed every movement as Sasuke searched for him. There was no flaw in his execution of the protocol, every motion was efficient and precise.

It made Naruto want to see just what it would take to rattle him. What it would be like to take the man apart.

Naruto quickly considered his options. Their speed was roughly evenly matched. Sasuke bested him with his reflexes and precision, but strength and stamina Naruto owned. No unmodified human would be able to win against him if it came to those.

"You didn't call for back-up," Naruto called out, leaping quickly off his perch on the duct and moving silently around the maze of piping on the roof, making it impossible for Sasuke to track his current location by simply following his voice.

Sasuke stuck to protocol, maintaining his silence as he hunted.

"Aw, you're no fun, Sasuke," Naruto went into a diving roll as he caught sight of Sasuke from out of the corner of his eye, barely avoiding the shot that would have hit him dead center in his heart of he'd stayed where he was. He could hear Sasuke reloading. "Loosen the fuck up, man. If I'd wanted to kill you, I would have done it before you noticed me."

Naruto's last words were said on a sharp intake of breath as he dodged another shot, running silently to find a temporary hiding spot. He sat still, controlling his breathing and concentrating on pinpointing Sasuke's location. They still had at least another hour before dawn, but it was unlikely their little game of rooftop cat-and-mouse would last that long. At some point, one of them would catch the other.

Obviously, if Sasuke caught Naruto he was going to put a bullet in him. So Naruto would just have to catch Sasuke first. The question was, what did he want to do with the man once he caught him? Naruto considered his options as he listened intently, detecting the slightest sounds of Sasuke's expert movements. He was far enough across the rooftop from him that Naruto had a little bit of breathing room.

"You've got some balls coming out here alone. Not procedure, though," Naruto listened, hearing Sasuke's soft footfalls rapidly change direction, heading right for him. He crouched and softly ran behind another pipe. The fact that Sasuke had come out here on his own made Naruto curious. For a man that seemed to follow procedure so ruthlessly, why would he take the chance? "But maybe you haven't figured out who I am yet."

This time, Naruto didn't move from his spot, intentionally letting Sasuke get close to his position. There were multiple metal ducts surrounding him, distorting the source of the sound and making it hard for Sasuke to pinpoint exactly where Naruto was hiding. It would be a fifty-fifty chance to see who saw who first. Naruto's enhanced hearing gave him the edge, though, and he could detect Sasuke's controlled breathing as he approached. Naruto drew in a deep breath, tasting Sasuke's scent on his tongue. The scent was heavily laced with adrenaline and cold aggression, but not a drop of fear.

"Fuck, that's hot," Naruto murmured as he lashed out his leg, catching Sasuke's gun arm and knocking the shot wild as he tightened his grip on Sasuke's wrist before pinning him to the ground, his shins pressing down Sasuke's thighs. Sasuke lunged against his hold, but Naruto used his brute strength and better leverage to hold him against the hard, course surface of the roof. Naruto looked down into Sasuke's narrowed red eyes and grinned. "Guess you thought I'd keep moving. Surprise."

Sasuke strained one more time trying to break free, but there was no chance. Sasuke let some of the tension out of his body, likely to conserve his strength for when a better opportunity presented itself. Naruto would make sure not to give him one. Sasuke's eyes watched him warily, but there was no panic in them, nor in his scent. Unable to resist, Naruto leaned down, his fingers tightening their grip around Sasuke's wrists enough that they would definitely leave bruises. He drew a deep breath at the base of Sasuke's throat, savoring the fact that he was finally able to do so at such close range. The second-hand scent he'd been able to get off the hookers Sasuke fucked was nothing compared to this.

"Fuck, you smell good. You're still not scared, are you? Don't you recognize me?" Naruto leaned in whispering directly into Sasuke's ear. "You must know who I am with that photographic memory of yours, Sasuke. I told you I'd see you again."

The force Naruto was exerting to keep Sasuke from escaping had taken its toll on the makeshift bandage, and a drop of blood fell from his wound, landing at the base of Sasuke's throat. Naruto knew his wound would already be clotted over if he weren't straining so hard, so he wasn't worried about his injury. But he couldn't exactly leave a sample of his blood with Sasuke, especially since he didn't know the man's agenda yet.

Deciding he'd earned at least this much of a reward for immobilizing Sasuke, Naruto leaned down, licking the blood off Sasuke's throat with one long, slow wet swipe of his tongue, savoring the taste of Sasuke's skin beneath the metallic tang of blood. "No freebies. You want a sample of my blood, you'll have to do better than that. Or ask me very nicely," Naruto grinned suggestively, his eyes drifting to Sasuke's lips.

For the first time, he saw a flicker of surprise behind Sasuke's eyes, but he wasn't sure if it was due to Naruto's words or his actions. Sasuke's lips tightened, but he didn't reply as he scanned the rooftop, likely looking for anything he could use to his advantage to break free. The gun was only inches out of his reach, but Naruto's iron grip made it impossible for him to reach it no matter how Sasuke's hand strained towards it.

"Oh, come on, Sasuke. Is it so bad of an offer? What am I supposed to think, with you coming up here on your own to see me. And you really don't look like you're enjoying banging those hookers of yours. I get it, though. I mean... what fun is it if they can't keep up and you always have to hold back, right?"

Sasuke's face was expressionless, though he seemed to be reading something in Naruto's the way his eyes were studying the G-mod's features.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked, his voice low and controlled as his body suddenly shifted beneath Naruto. For someone who wasn't a G-mod, Sasuke's strength was impressive. Even with Naruto's strength, he had a hard time holding on when Sasuke made his move. Naruto tightened his grip brutally, shifting his knees to dig painfully into Sasuke's thighs, hitting the pressure points there. The stiffening of Sasuke's body beneath him was the only indication the man gave of the pain Naruto knew he was in.

"Did you know it was me before you got on this rooftop and tried to take me out on your own?" Naruto asked, meeting Sasuke's glare steadily.

Sasuke held his gaze silently for a moment before repeating his question. "What do you _want_?"

Naruto hid a flash of annoyance at Sasuke's refusal to answer his question. Not that Naruto had really expected Sasuke to give anything up without a fight, but he really wanted to know the answer. He wondered what he could do to shake the man out of his composure.

"Hmm," Naruto hummed consideringly, his gaze flickering briefly to Sasuke's lips then throat. He supposed it wouldn't hurt to give Sasuke a partial answer to his question as a show of good faith, but he knew that the full truth of what he wanted from Sasuke was not likely to be well received given the killing look coming from the man pinned beneath him. "I want a lot of things, Sasuke. But let's start with the simple answers. I want to know how you noticed me following you, how you knew I was coming to the roof instead of looking for me in the alley after I knocked the light out. And most importantly, I'd like to know why you came to my cell two weeks ago. I'm not dumb enough to swallow that bullshit you gave about 'inspecting my condition'. I've had monitors basically stuck up my ass for my entire life. There's nothing about my 'condition' that you could want to know that the lab assholes couldn't tell you. Except maybe why I wouldn't have sex with the people they kept shoving into my cage, but I doubt that was what you were wanting to know."

Sasuke's jaw tensed, the first sign that he might be unsettled by the situation.

"You broke out of a maximum security facility and have been following me for almost two weeks because you wanted to know why I came to see you?" Sasuke didn't bother to hide his skepticism.

Naruto rolled his eyes, digging his knees more painfully into the muscles of Sasuke's thighs on the pressure points that he knew meant Sasuke's legs were going numb.

"I said I wanted a lot of things. That's just the one I want to start with." Naruto looked at Sasuke, but could read only wariness in the man's expression. "I can smell a lie, you know. And I've been playing nicer than I have to so far," Naruto said, his voice low and threatening.

"You expect me to believe you'll just let me up if I answer you?" Sasuke asked calmly.

Naruto shrugged. "Like I said before, if all I'd wanted to do was kill you, I wouldn't have waited until you noticed me before I did anything about it."

"Maybe you're just not very smart," Sasuke replied. Naruto figured the man was trying to bait Naruto into screwing up. Too bad it only amused him.

"Tch. You're lucky you smell so good with a shitty personality like that." He drew in another deep breath before his grin returned.

Sasuke looked at him non-plussed. The device the officer always carried with him began to vibrate, a low, red glow emitting from the screen. They both looked down at where it was holstered at his hip. Naruto felt Sasuke's body instantly tense, his scent taking on an underlying sense of urgency that Naruto had never smelled on him before. Something was definitely wrong.

"Hm. That's new. Usually your messages show up either blue or green. Red must be important. I'm guessing you have to respond to this or someone's going to come looking for you?"

Sasuke glared at him for a moment, not deigning to respond.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "God, you're fucking paranoid, you know that? Fine. We'll continue this later. But next time I pin you, you owe me an answer to why you came to my cell. Deal?"

Sasuke looked at him, clearly disbelieving. He studied Naruto for a moment, and Naruto had the uncomfortable sensation that Sasuke was able to read far more into his expression than Naruto was comfortable with. Sasuke's phone buzzed again. Sasuke's jaw clenched, but he gave Naruto a sharp, wary nod of agreement. His eyes still held more than a trace of disbelief that Naruto was going to actually just… let him go. "Ok."

"Deal." Naruto leaned in, drew in one last deep breath at the base of Sasuke's throat before releasing Sasuke's hands and grabbing his weapon in one rapid motion before Sasuke could get to it. Naruto threw the gun to the far side of the roof, but not over the edge, knowing that Sasuke would likely need it for whatever mission the red message was informing him of. Naruto quickly moved out of range, his body coiled and ready to counter a possible attack if Sasuke made one. Sasuke slowly stood, their eyes locked warily on each other. The two men were now equally unarmed as they faced each other for a moment, Sasuke clearly hesitant to turn his back on Naruto and go for his gun, but the insistent buzzing of his communications device wasn't giving him much choice.

"Looks like you have to go to work." Naruto smirked as Sasuke glanced towards his weapon. Both men knew Sasuke wouldn't get to it in time to do anything with it. "I'll see you around, Sasuke."

With that, Naruto turned and sprinted across the rooftop, jumping and landing on the building next to them and continuing to run while Sasuke retrieved his gun, rapidly scrolling through the message on his screen.

* * *

Naruto went only three buildings over before he made his way down the fire escape, circling back to the entrance of the parking garage where Sasuke's motorcycle was stored. It was clear that Sasuke had received an urgent summons, and Naruto wanted to know what was going on, and whether or not it had anything to do with him or one of the other G-mods.

He didn't have long to wait before Sasuke's black motorcycle appeared, darting out into traffic and rapidly weaving in and out between the early morning commuters. Naruto couldn't see inside the tinted visor of Sasuke's helmet, but he had the distinct sense that the man had looked right at Naruto's hiding place before squeezing the accelerator and picking up speed.

Naruto cursed as he quickly climbed up the fire escape of the nearest building. His only hope was to get high enough to keep Sasuke in sight and follow him at his own pace. Of course Sasuke wasn't making it easy for him.

" _Bastard,"_ Naruto muttered to himself as he sprinted across the rooftop, trying to keep up.

* * *

_To be continued…_

**A/N:** So, the super disturbing scene that I thought might happen in this chapter will come in later. It was… just too soon LOLOL.

AND the next chapter will have Sasuke meeting up with the person who sent him the message.  Any takers on who you think it will be?  ;-)


	4. Just a taste

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So… here it is. The scene I actually wrote this whole fic for. Yes, I know there is far more disturbing content out there in this fandom, but I haven't written that so I don't feel accountable for it. PLEASE READ THE WARNINGS AND TAGS FOR THIS CHAPTER. If you are at all on the fence after the prior chapter DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER. This fic isn't for everyone, and I totally get that. I won't be mad.

**WARNING! WARNING! DISTURBING CONTENT THIS CHAPTER!** If you have problems with bloodplay, slight blood fetish, scent fetish, FELCHING (if you don't know what this is, don't read this chapter), SLOPPY SECONDS, **then don't read this chapter**. There is also voyeurism, but if you missed that in the first 3 chapters I don't know what to say to you. **This chapter is 18+.** Actually, fuck it: **This chapter is** **21+.**

* * *

**Chapter 4 - Just a taste  
**

With the pre-dawn traffic being so much lighter than the daytime traffic, Sasuke didn't have to hold back on the throttle. Naruto cursed as he realized he wouldn't be able to keep up with him this time. He made it to the roof of the tallest building on the block, his eyes tracking Sasuke's progress as he sped through the sparsely populated city streets.

Sasuke paused at a traffic light about eight blocks up, turning briefly to look over his shoulder in Naruto's general direction. Despite the mirrored visor on the black helmet he wore, Naruto could swear that Sasuke smirked at him before running the red light and speeding through the empty intersection, accelerating to the nearest on-ramp that led to the highway that bisected the city.

" _Fuck_ ," Naruto cursed more vehemently this time as he quickly considered his options. He was going to lose Sasuke shortly. The city was huge, and at the speed Sasuke was going, he would be out of sight in under a minute.

"Son-of-a- _,_ " Naruto cut off as the sound of multiple drones approaching. He spun around, looking for cover, and quickly ripped the grate off a ventilation shaft and ducked inside. He'd bent the screws in his haste, so he had to just hold it in place as the first drone passed overhead.

"Bastard sold me out!" he growled, indignation coloring his voice, followed by a hard wave of disappointment. He hadn't thought Sasuke would cut and run like that. Was the whole 'red alert' thing just a decoy so he could call for back-up? Naruto hadn't pegged Sasuke as a coward. Maybe he'd been looking too hard to find a kindred spirit and saw more than what was actually there in the man with the powerful eyes and heady scent. Naruto sighed, already thinking through what the fastest way out of the city was. There was no longer anything of interest for him here.

As the drones continued past without breaking speed at all, one following the other, Naruto began to question the assumption that Sasuke had been the one to call them. If he had signaled the military with Naruto's location, they would be all over the surrounding rooftops. _Like flies on shit._ Instead, they were moving past him at high speed, clearly not looking for anything in the area.

The sound of an explosion in the distance vibrated through the steel shaft Naruto was hiding in. It was far enough away that none of the heat or blowback of the blast reached him, but even just the sound was enough to be felt. And it was in the opposite direction from where Sasuke had headed.

Naruto frowned. He knew enough about military tactics to know that something was definitely wrong. The explosion and whatever threat had caused the drones to be launched was clearly drawing the majority of the military's attention right now. But Sasuke was one of their top soldiers. It would make no sense to send him _away_ from the primary threat. What was going on?

He wasn't going to wait to find out. Naruto pulled his hood low over his head, keeping his hair covered and his face in shadow. He kicked the grate off the air duct and jumped down. The drones were still passing overhead, but they didn't seem to register his presence at all. The lockdown siren sounded, signaling that all non-military personnel were required to be off the streets and away from the windows. The last time this had sounded was when Naruto had broken out of the secure military facility where he'd been held.

Naruto looked over to where he had last seen Sasuke, but there was no sign of the man. Naruto started running. The streets cleared rapidly of civilians, well aware of the heavy hand of the State if they disobeyed the siren's warning. Anyone caught on the street within five minutes of the siren's alarm would be viewed as an enemy combatant. There were monitored police check-posts every three blocks were unlucky commuters could take shelter and not be viewed as out-of-compliance.

Within minutes, the only vehicles on the road were military or military police.

Naruto looked down at the street below where a police motorcade was approaching. Not wasting time on indecision, Naruto swung himself over the side of the building in the narrow alley-way, landing on the fire escape and quickly making his way to street level.

. . . . . .

When the group of police passed his location, they were short one motorcycle.

* * *

Naruto placed the body of the unconscious officer behind one of the dumpsters, taking his firearm, helmet and jacket before hopping on the motorcycle and speeding off in the direction he last saw Sasuke. The helmet covered his hair and eyes. No one he passed gave him a second look.

It was harder to navigate on street level than it had been from the rooftops, but Naruto was able to go at maximum speed with the streets cleared of all traffic. Since he was heading away from the explosion, even the military traffic was gone by the time he reached the bridge.

When Naruto had reached the other side, he pulled over to the side, ripping off his helmet so he could hear and smell better. He shut off the engine, holding himself completely still as he searched for any sign of Sasuke. Given that the streets had emptied out even more than when Sasuke had left, Naruto guessed he couldn't be more than five minutes or so behind the man. But he needed to know where he'd gone after he hit the other side of town.

Naruto drew another breath, not able to pick up Sasuke's scent over the smells of the city. But there was another scent that he detected that had him turning on his motorcycle and pulling out his weapon. Something he hadn't smelled since the war.

Chemical enhancers.

When battalions knew they were going up against G-mods, some of the more ruthless generals would feed their soldiers chemical enhancers. They had all the effects of massive pain killers and a huge adrenaline rush. The soldiers would have temporarily boosted strength and stamina but at the cost of vastly decreased reasoning. The painkillers were so strong that they wouldn't even know they'd been shot until they hit the ground, dead from bleeding out. They were basically cannon fodder, used to slow down or disrupt G-mods in battle until a sniper or some other battalion could come in and capture them.

As much of a monster as Naruto always had been told he was, he was nothing compared to how these hopped-up soldiers acted or the generals that deployed them. They were berserker killing machines without reason or control, their eyes glazed and dead. The stink of the chemicals coming out of their pores in their sweat was something Naruto would never forget.

And there were at least thirty of them. Close. Whoever sent them was _not_ fucking around, and there was no doubt in his mind that their target had to be Sasuke.

Naruto quickly thought through the scenarios of a single combatant against a force of this type. No matter how he played it out, there was no way Sasuke could take them all out. He would have to reload his standard-issue 'peacetime' weapon at least twice, and they would swarm him long before he could finish even his first re-load. Without Naruto's sense of smell, Sasuke could be walking into an ambush. Naruto had to get to him before the trap was sprung. He sped down the narrow alley, then parked the bike, not wanting the sound to alert the enemy.

Naruto wondered where Sasuke was, whether he was close enough to be in range or heading further away. Naruto looked up and down the street, quickly identifying the highest building in the area. There were no drones overhead, so he kept his helmet off as he snuck around to the back, looking for a window that led into a hallway or stairwell. As soon as he found it he wrapped his arm in his jacket before smashing it in and clearing the broken glass out of the way before sliding in the narrow opening. With the siren still sounding, no one would come to investigate until everything was over. He'd had more than enough time to make it to the roof and hopefully find Sasuke. Or take out his would-be attackers. Either was fine with him.

* * *

Naruto sprinted to the elevator, cursing when he saw it required a security card to get to the top floor. But even if it took him partway, it was better than wasting time on the stairs. He jammed his helmet back on his head, knowing there were probably security cameras in the elevator, then stepped inside and pressed the highest floor he could access to without a card. It took him to the tenth floor, and Naruto quickly found the fire stairs to take to the roof. The door was locked but he had no trouble kicking it open.

Naruto removed his helmet and stayed back in the shadows of the doorway on the off chance that someone was on the same roof he was and had heard him, but both his nose and his ears told him he was alone. Crouching low, he made his way slowly to the edge of the building, looking down into the main street.

Nothing.

He turned and scanned the rooftops of the surrounding buildings, all of which were at least a story shorter than the one he was on. Two blocks away, he could make out three figures, sniper rifles out and pointed down towards a side street. Naruto didn't need to look at the gun he'd taken from the officer to know it didn't have a silencer. The bowie knife he had strapped to his leg would have to do.

He ran silently along the building, leaping down to the adjacent rooftop, landing with almost no sound and barely breaking stride. The three snipers were still and focused on awaiting their target, completely oblivious to Naruto's approach.

Naruto slowed. The men were wearing the same military uniform as the soldiers he'd passed in the streets. Maybe they were on Sasuke's side? Reinforcements? Back-up? They didn't have the scent of the chemical modifiers on them, though Naruto could tell that he was getting closer to them. One of the men shifted, and Naruto got a better look at his sidearm weapon.

Definitely not the same as Sasuke's, or the one Naruto had taken off the officer he'd 'borrowed' the motorcycle from, but Naruto recognized it instantly. He'd see them on enemy combatants enough during the war to have the exact shape of it memorized.

Not Sasuke's allies, then. That simplified Naruto's options considerably.

Without further hesitation, Naruto advanced, his soft footfalls lost in the sound of the siren and the wind blowing across the top of the building as he approached the man who was further back, coming behind him and snapping his neck before he even heard Naruto coming. The other two were on rooftops adjacent to this one, but slightly forward. In order to check on their now-dead comrade, they would have to look back, away from their target.

Naruto considered how to take out the other two. They were both forward enough that it would not be possible for Naruto to sneak up on one without the other noticing in their peripheral vision. Naruto glanced at the sniper rifle that had fallen from the dead man's grasp. He had been trained in the basic handling of most weapons, but he was by no means an expert sniper. Still, the shots were not very far away. It wouldn't take an expert marksman to get the job done. At least, that's what Naruto hoped as he picked up the rifle, checked to see how many bullets it had, then lined up the site for the first shot on the man furthest from him.

The wind shifted and Naruto smelled it. Sasuke was close, and he had one person with him. Sasuke smelled tense and alert, which probably meant he knew something was up but he hadn't seen the trap yet. The shift in the wind would now carry any sound Naruto made away from the other two snipers (who still hadn't noticed the loss of their companion, Naruto thought derisively). He saw both men tense, looking down the sights of their rifles and knew he had run out of time. Sasuke was either in sight or someone had signaled them that he was approaching. Naruto pulled the trigger, the full metal jacket of the bullet easily piercing the protective helmet the sniper wore, easily shattering through bone and flesh as he went down in a spray of blood.

The wind hadn't covered enough of the sound, and the third sniper jerked, looking over to where his comrade had fallen. Naruto was already sprinting across the rooftop, his sidearm drawn. The man turned, looking for the source of the danger, but Naruto was on him with his preternatural speed, the bullet from his weapon easily piercing through the man's helmet at close range.

Naruto still couldn't see Sasuke, but he knew he was close. So were the thirty drugged out soldiers. Unable to think of any other way to warn him, Naruto simply fired off three shots into the windows of the warehouse across the street, noisily shattering the glass and spoiling any possible attempt at surprise.

There was a pregnant moment of absolute silence, then chaos broke out on the street below.

Naruto watched as Sasuke and another man turned the corner, their weapons already drawn. Sasuke's eyes swirled red as he scanned the street and alley and somehow unerringly latched directly onto Naruto a split, suspended second up on the rooftop, before moving on. A door on one side of the alley was flung open at the same time a group of enemy soldiers stepped out from behind a large dumpster at the back of the alley. Naruto barely had time to notice that Sasuke's companion's eyes were the same red as the ambush was launched, the two elite officers' weapons firing and moving in precise, methodical accuracy. Four dead bodies had already hit the ground before Naruto finished processing that Itachi must be the owner of the second pair of red eyes. The thought settled him somewhat. Three against thirty felt like it would be about even odds. He grinned, the rush of adrenaline pumping through him.

It was going to be a hell of a fight.

Naruto aimed the sniper rifle, noticing that the Uchiha brothers had already taken cover behind a car and seemed to be almost effortlessly taking out anyone that dared to get within their line of sight. Naruto aimed his into the far side of the alley, taking out a man who seemed to have some sort of communication device and was shouting rapidly into it. As soon as the man was down, Naruto's eyes quickly scanned for his next target. As he took in the layout of the trap, he couldn't help but admire the planning that had obviously gone into it. If Sasuke and Itachi had entered the alley, they would have been surrounded with no available cover, and no immediate exit. It would have been over in seconds. Naruto's warning shots had ensured they knew shit was going down, and all attempts at surprise had vanished.

With Naruto shooting from the rooftop, the soldiers were scrambling for cover, in a panic as they were picked off from the front and from above. It the midst of all the chaos, it would be a simple matter for the brothers to turn and make their escape.

Of course, that was not the option Sasuke and his brother chose.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Sasuke, you stupid, fucking…," Naruto growled, frustrated, but still wishing he was close enough to smell it better when Sasuke's killer instinct kicked into full gear in a real battle. From seven stories up, he barely got the flavor of it, but even the trace of it set his mouth watering. He didn't have time to enjoy it, though because two fist-sized objects were flying through the air towards the brothers.

 _Grenades_ , Naruto thought, frowning, wondering why their attackers were bothering with that when the brothers probably would just -

Sasuke and Itachi lifted their weapons in identical, fluid arcs, firing in tandem. Naruto wasn't sure who aimed where, but one hit both grenades, detonating them in mid-air with a searing flash of light at the same time the soldier who threw it hit the ground with a bullet lodged dead center of his forehead. Naruto had looked down briefly to check how many bullets he had left, so he wasn't blinded by the flash despite not having on any protective eyewear.

 _Flash grenade_. They must have known it was unlikely that they could hit the brothers reliably with a traditional grenade, but the blinding flash would temporarily disable the Uchiha brothers' most critical asset: their eyes.

Naruto didn't bother looking to see whether the sound had managed to stun Sasuke. Either he was on his feet or he wasn't but, regardless, he was temporarily blinded and Naruto had to try to even the odds or at least draw some fire. He pulled the trigger on the sniper rifle without taking time to aim, using his last bullet. He only managed to wing one of the soldiers, but it kept the soldiers pinned down, unable to make much of a move against Sasuke and his brother with a shooter taking pot shots at them from above.

"They're chem'd up!" Naruto shouted down to Sasuke. Not that it would matter... Naruto already knew from experience that Sasuke's standard operating model was to shoot to kill. No amount of painkillers can keep a soldier going with a bullet lodged in his brain. But Sasuke gave a terse nod as he dropped another attacker. Itachi's gun had jerked reflexively in Naruto's direction when he'd spoken, but returned to the nest of ambushers in front of him and dropped two to the ground before Naruto had finished speaking. He realized that Sasuke and Itachi were still shooting, even though temporarily blinded. _Right. Photographic memory._

Naruto grinned ferally at the sight. Their attackers had thought that all of Sasuke and Itachi's abilities were in their eyes, but they had grossly under-estimated them. The Uchiha brothers were feared for a reason. They were brutal, ruthless, and precise. Even so, they were still outnumbered and out-gunned. Naruto needed to get down there if he was going to be of any further use. He ducked down, not wanting to give any sign that there was no longer a sniper on the roof. Without hesitating, Naruto launched himself over the side of the building away from the alley, landing out-of-sight on the fire escape and jumping from landing to landing, making it down to street level in under fifteen seconds.

* * *

He approached the alley from the opposite side that Sasuke and Itachi had covered, catching the enemy by surprise from behind. It had been a little over a minute since the grenades had detonated, but evidently Sasuke and Itachi had enough of their sight back that they were no longer holding back. If what they'd been doing before could be called that.

Naruto wasn't sure how often Itachi and Sasuke had fought together, but there was something fluid and almost other worldly the way they moved automatically in sync with no wasted shots as they advanced, no break in their firing pattern as their attackers tried to take advantage of their temporarily impaired state and realized the window had already closed.

Naruto laughed as he moved in from behind, catching one of the groups of attackers by surprise by the flank attack. As the body count in the alley rose, he wondered briefly just how badly someone must want the brothers dead to go through all this as he lined up his next shot and pulled the trigger, watching his victim go down in a wash of high velocity spray.

The next few minutes were lost in the chaos of the fight, and Naruto took only an instant to observe the cold-blooded ruthlessness of the two brothers picking off their enemies with deadly precision. A few times, he looked over to find Sasuke's eyes following him, especially after Naruto had run out of bullets and pulled out his knife, moving with his preternatural speed and strength to nearly rip his enemies' throats from their bodies. He caught an underlying edge of arousal to Sasuke's scent, and felt his body responding. It didn't surprise him that Sasuke got off on violence. It was the first truly _human_ emotion he'd smelled on the man, and he couldn't get enough of it.

Naruto drew the sharp edge of his knife deeply across the throat of the soldier he was holding, realizing he'd made his way to where the Uchiha brothers were finishing off the last of the attackers. The body of the man Naruto had just killed fell at Sasuke's feet, and the alley was suddenly completely silent. Naruto looked up to meet Sasuke's gaze, his body tensing as he waited to see what would happen. The blood of the arterial spray spattered red across Sasuke's pale cheek, but he didn't bother to wipe it off. His face was calm and cold, as though shooting his way out of a military ambush that was clearly tailor-made to take him out was hardly worth noticing. Naruto could smell the adrenaline, though, sharp and clear against the blood lust that swirled darkly beneath it. It made Naruto want to lick every inch of his skin, starting with the pale, blood-spattered cheek. But just earlier that morning, Sasuke had been trying to kill him, and he was sure Itachi's orders would be similar.

But this was no time to be distracted by the hardness in his jeans. Itachi and Sasuke still had their weapons drawn, and both sets of red eyes were locked on Naruto. In the back of his mind, Naruto was trying to think of how he could make it out of this if they decided to lump him in with the rest of their attackers lying dead at their feet.

"The soldier at the far end of the alley had a short-range radio. Whoever was calling the shots has to be within a ten block radius," Itachi turned away from Naruto to look at Sasuke, but Sasuke's eyes stayed locked on Naruto. "I'm going to find who was giving the orders. You clean up here, then radio in our status."

Itachi glanced at Naruto. "It was interesting fighting on the same side, this time."

Naruto stiffened. "We were supposed to be on the same side last time as well," he replied, feeling the old anger of the betrayal of his country turning on him when he had outlived his usefulness surging through him.

"The choice was to have the fighter-jets take you out, or capture you alive," Itachi stated calmly, though there was no doubt that both brothers could see the anger radiating from Naruto's body.

"Who made that call?" Naruto asked.

Itachi nodded, holstering his weapon and looking up at the building where Naruto had taken out the last sniper. "I did."

Naruto was about to ask Itachi what was going to happen next, but the man was already striding away, nimbly climbing up the same fire escape Naruto had used to come down, looking for the best way to find his new prey.

Naruto turned back to find Sasuke's eyes still locked on him. He slowly walked toward Sasuke, his entire body tightly coiled, ready to counter a possible attack.

"You gonna fight me, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, his voice soft as he looked down meaningfully at the weapon still held in Sasuke's hand.

"They had a sniper on the roof," Sasuke stated, not answering Naruto's question.

"They had three," Naruto corrected, circling around behind Sasuke, just as he had in his cell weeks ago. Only this time, there were no guards to come and intervene. Sasuke circled with him for a bit, not allowing Naruto get fully out of his sight. Naruto looked down and realized he was still holding the knife in a combat grip, but he didn't change his hold. Sasuke still had his gun, and they both knew the outcome of gun vs knife in a fight.

"You took them out and fired the shot into the alley to warn us," Sasuke said, his eyes flickering slightly to the blood staining Naruto's clothes and hands. "Then you took out the radioman so they couldn't call for back-up."

Naruto shrugged. "You guys might have kept me locked up since the war, but I haven't forgotten _all_ my training. Didn't you say you wanted to check the 'battle readiness' of all your weapons?" Naruto mocked Sasuke with the words he'd spoken to him in his cell during their first meeting.

Sasuke's lips curved in a small smirk and he slowed his steps, allowing Naruto to move fully behind him. "Are you still my weapon? You escaped your holding cell. But you fought for me today."

Naruto slowed his own pace, barely moving as he paused just behind Sasuke's left shoulder, leaning in so the soft spikes of Sasuke's hair brushed against his nose. He could feel the blood rush to his dick at the scent of the man, the heady rush of battle and the low tones of arrogance and arousal from the fight making Sasuke smell like some kind of insane aphrodisiac that had Naruto just about coming out of his skin.

"Maybe. I could still be your weapon, Sasuke. But you'd have to ask me for it."

Naruto ran his tongue over his lower lip, wishing he could lean in just a bit more and lick the sweat mixed with blood he could see on the back of Sasuke's neck. But he held himself in check.

"Hn," Sasuke said, slowly turning to face him. Naruto knew his eyes had gone red again, but Sasuke's were now completely black, watching him from behind a mask of control that Naruto would give anything to break. "I might take you up on that, Naruto. But I somehow doubt you want to be returned to the compound. Especially after pissing the warden off by breaking out without seemingly much effort and humiliating him."

Naruto tilted his head to the side. "The only way I'm going back into that cell is in a body bag. Is that what your brother is doing up on the roof? Waiting for you to extract the information from me, then he'll put a bullet in my head?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "No. As far as Itachi is concerned, you were never here. He's putting his prints on the rifle you used and wiping yours off. I will make sure there is no trace of you on the ground."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Why?"

Sasuke shrugged casually. "Does it matter?"

Naruto thought quickly for any possible reason that two of the most elite officers in the government forces might purposefully conceal the presence and actions of the government's most wanted fugitive. He didn't believe for one moment it was for something as sentimental as 'returning the favor'.

"I'm assuming you have an account set up. If you give me the number, I can wire you payment for today's… services," Sasuke glanced at the bodies strewn around the alley.

Naruto blinked. "Account? Like… bank account?"

"Tch. Don't play stupid." Sasuke's eyes roved over Naruto's face, searching for any sign of deception.

Naruto chuckled. It was clear Sasuke was not used to anyone helping him out without an agenda. "No. I don't need your money, Uchiha."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in suspicion, and his grip tightened on his gun as he took a step back, raising his gun so it pointed directly between Naruto's eyes. "Then what do you want? No one does this kind of thing for free."

"What do I want?" Naruto hadn't really thought about it much, except hoping that Sasuke might not try to kill him the next time Naruto tracked him down. "Hm. How about…," Naruto grinned, leaning forward so the muzzle of Sasuke's gun touched the center of his forehead. He tilted his head, letting Sasuke's gun trail down along his cheek, almost like a caress. He slowly reached his free hand forward, wiping a smear of blood from Sasuke's cheek with the pad of his thumb before returning the finger to his mouth, tasting the metallic tang of the blood along with the salty musk of Sasuke's sweat. The heat in his belly coiled tighter at the taste of it on his tongue. "... how about the next time you use a hooker, you do it bareback. I know you always go through the government service, and their girls are clean and on high power birth control." He wrinkled his nose as he recalled the scent of the almost overpowering estrogen and progestin levels. "There's no risk to you."

"What?" Sasuke blinked. Of all the things Naruto could have asked for, this had clearly not been on Sasuke's mental list.

Naruto grinned and stepped back, breaking the contact between Sasuke's gun and his skin. He could hear the sounds of drones approaching. Someone must have finally figured out shit went down here. Naruto needed to get out of sight.

"You usually don't touch 'em enough to leave much of a taste behind. Do that, and we'll call it even."

Naruto turned and began to run back to the alley where he had left his 'borrowed' motorcycle.

"Hey!" Sasuke called out. Naruto paused, looking over his shoulder at him. The sound of the drones was getting closer. "Why did you leave me my gun this morning?"

"Because if anyone is going to get to kill you, it's going to be me," Naruto replied cockily, then turned and sprinted away. Sasuke moved quickly, shooting the gas tanks of three cars parked along the far alley where Naruto had come from. After waiting a moment or two for the gas to pool down into the street, he shot again, setting the alley ablaze. There would be enough bodies left for the lab to determine where they came from, but there would be no forensic evidence of Naruto's intervention.

* * *

Naruto stood under the shower, washing the blood and sweat from his body. Sasuke would be tied up for hours debriefing his commanding officer about what had happened in the alley that morning. Naruto wondered how he was going to cover up the fact that some of the men were killed from the wrong angle, or from a gun that was no longer at the scene.

He shrugged the concern off. The government was already hunting him. It wasn't like this was going to make them hunt him _more_.

Sasuke had brought up a good point, though. Naruto had been living day-by-day, but he really needed to plan ahead if he was going to stay hidden permanently after he got over his… fixation with Sasuke. He didn't know enough about computers to set up a bank account remotely, but he was pretty sure his presence in any of the government banks would have him locked up before he could even think up a fake name to use.

He'd need to purchase some supplies if he was going to leave the city, and it was going to require more money than he currently had. It was easy to scavenge and 'borrow' while he was in the city. Naruto wasn't a fan of stealing, in general, but the government had never actually paid him for his services in the past. They definitely fucking owed him. So he was fine living in the government district for now, stealing from the people who had imprisoned him. But he'd need more substantial resources if he was going to really get out.

After he showered, he spent the day laying on his borrowed bed, thinking about what he should do next, and wondering why Itachi and Sasuke had let him walk away from the alley alive. He was definitely going to pay Sasuke's apartment a visit that night. He had no idea if Sasuke would even be allowed to go home, or if he would still be wading through interviews, meetings and paperwork downtown. But it was worth a shot. If Sasuke was going to follow-through on Naruto's request, he damn sure wasn't going to miss it.

* * *

Naruto held his breath as Sasuke walked over to his door and let a woman into his apartment. Naruto had been waiting for Sasuke to get home for hours, but he was glad he had. Sasuke had barely been back for fifteen minutes before the woman showed up. He hadn't even showered, only removed his shirt and boots. Naruto ran his tongue over his lower lip as he noted that Sasuke was still wearing the clothing from the battle this morning. Though he had washed his face and hands, his clothing and skin would still be spattered with the blood of his kills, rich with his sweat. Naruto watched intently as Sasuke greeted the woman, saying something to her that made her eyes widen before her head nodded quickly.

Naruto wondered if Sasuke was asking her consent to forgo a condom. He could feel his pulse pick up at the idea. This was a hooker Sasuke had used before, and Naruto already knew she was more than amenable to spending time with Naruto after Sasuke finished with her.

He shifted on the ledge, not wanting to miss a moment of what was about to happen, but needing to ease the sudden pressure in his jeans. Sasuke's head snapped up and he looked out the window and - despite the darkness - Naruto was sure for one frozen instant that Sasuke could somehow see him in the deep shadows of the dark ledge where he was crouched. Watching.

Sasuke stilled, his eyes locked on Naruto's hidden location. Slowly, a smirk formed on his pale, perfect lips. He motioned with his hand for the woman to approach him, not taking his gaze off Naruto. She obeyed, and Sasuke slowly drew her to him, pressing her body flush against his lean, muscled frame. The woman smiled, murmuring something in Sasuke's ear. He didn't reply. He rubbed his hips against hers harshly for only a few thrusts before reaching up under the woman's skirt and ripping her panties from her body. His hands unbuckled his belt and pulled down his zipper in cool deliberation, his eyes still fixed on where Naruto crouched, hidden.

"Fuck," Naruto panted slightly as Sasuke's fully hard, red-flushed erection sprang free. Usually it took a while for the prostitutes to get Sasuke hard, but evidently the heat of the day's battle still had Sasuke keyed up and more than ready to go.

Naruto palmed himself through the front of his pants and bit his lip as Sasuke finally turned to face the woman.  He peeled off her blouse then shoved up her skirt. Sasuke didn't even bother to fully remove his pants, only shoving them down far enough to clear his hips before he was pushing her down on the bed. Her slender legs wrapped tightly around his back and she arched up, pressing her bare chest against his, his erection sliding along her stomach. Naruto could almost hear the sound of skin against skin, and his teeth dug into his lower lip so hard he could taste blood. Sasuke had laid the woman out crossways on his bed, the entire length of their bodies directly in front of the window. Every light in the room was turned on, giving Naruto full visibility of every flex and strain of the muscles of Sasuke's hips and back. Naruto let out a small groan, his hand pressing harder against his dick. Sasuke drew back and stilled, looking down at the woman spread beneath him on his bed. Naruto's eyes were nearly feverish, wondering if Sasuke was going to go through with his request.

Sasuke turned his head, looking out the window directly toward the alley where Naruto was concealed. He smirked, a dark, knowing look in eyes that Naruto knew couldn't really be looking right at him, but somehow _were_. He didn't look back down at the hooker as he drove into her, hitching her legs up over his bare shoulders as he thrust hard and deep. He started off slowly, then gradually increased the tempo and force until the woman was arched up on the bed, writhing beneath him.

Sasuke didn't take his eyes from the window as he continued to fuck her, his hips slamming into her over and over.

"Fuck, yeah," Naruto growled, his fingers fumbling with the button and zipper on his jeans in his need to relieve some of the painful pressure on his aching cock. He fisted himself harshly as he watched, torn between wanting it to take a long time, and wanting Sasuke to hurry up and finish so he could get his hands on the woman.

Naruto's jaw clenched and his balls tightened when he saw Sasuke's eyes flutter, his pale back going rigid as his thrusts became erratic. Sasuke's body lock up, gripping the woman's hips to hold her still as he came inside her, his hips pumping in short, sharp thrusts as he milked his orgasm for every last drop. He groaned at the sight of the hooded look Sasuke sent him as he slowly withdrew from the woman. Naruto had to fight not to cum at the sight of it, but he wanted more than just a quick hand job as he crouched on a cold ledge this time. Sasuke had given him his payment, and Naruto was going to enjoy it to the fullest.

The woman lay on Sasuke's bed, her face dazed, and her body limp and boneless, soft against the blood red sheets. Naruto wondered if Sasuke liked the softness of women, if he was drawn to it, or if he simply used what was available to him.  The thought made Naruto feel oddly tense, though he didn't know exactly why.  It wasn't as though there was any sort of potential for a relationship between him and the Uchiha. This was all just… a temporary obsession he was working out of his system.

While the arrival of the prostitute had been different from the ones in the past, her exit was the same. Sasuke tossed her ruined panties and a wad of cash in her lap, then headed to the shower to wash himself off while she dressed saw herself out.

Naruto tucked himself back into his pants with difficulty, but he was humming as he made his way down to the alleyway. It would be a risk to bring the woman back to his apartment, but it was close to Sasuke's place and Naruto didn't want to waste any time.

He might not be the one who got to fuck Sasuke, but tonight he was going to find out what he tasted like.

* * *

Naruto was down on the entryway steps to Sasuke's building before the woman made it down. He cursed under his breath as he remembered that she lived across town. He was so fucking hard his jeans were painful. There was no way he could wait. He knew it would mean he'd have to find another place to hide, since he was sure Sasuke would track the woman down to question her. But it would be worth it.

"Oh, hey," the woman said as she walked towards him, recognizing him from before. She smiled coyly at him. "I was wondering if I was going to see you again."

Naruto grinned roguishly at her, stepping into her personal space, watching the way her eyes widened as her gaze slid over his body, pausing at the sight of his obvious erection beneath his jeans. "Yeah?"

She bit her lip, pulling him closer, pressing her stomach against his cock. "Yeah. Do you want to come to my place again?"

Naruto slid his hand around the small of her back, pressing her against him as he rotated his hips slightly against her. He growled slightly. Fuck, he could smell Sasuke's scent all over her. The residual aroma of his sweat, his arousal. The scent of his cum deep within the woman's body, slowly leaking from her. Saliva spurted on Naruto's tongue as he imagined licking it from the inside of her thigh, cleaning it from her folds, then sucking the rest out of her. He couldn't wait to taste it on his tongue, to feel it slick over his fingers, lips, and teeth.

"Mine's closer," he murmured, grabbing her hand as she laughed delightedly, following him down the dark streets to his apartment.

The woman flushed slightly. "I might need to just… grab a quick shower?"

He stopped and turned to face her, running his strong, calloused fingers along the delicate bone of her jaw.  He felt a slight shiver run through her at his touch. "No. You're perfect."

She breathed out a breathless laugh, biting her lip as she slid a shapely thigh against Naruto's erection, her eyes dilated in reaction to the pheromones pumping off Naruto's skin. "Then let's go."

Neither noticed the set of dark eyes watching them from the window above.

* * *

Naruto lay on his bed, the sheets tangled and damp with sweat. He closed his eyes as he ran his tongue over his teeth. He could still taste Sasuke on his lips. He had kept the woman with him for hours, his whole body feeling almost electrified by scent and taste of his obsession. But when the woman's phone had begun to ring incessantly, they'd had to stop so she could check her messages. Her employer was demanding her presence, some emergency about a client of hers. She had been upset, but Naruto had told her not to worry about it and she should go and deal with whatever it was. She'd gotten dressed, kissed him one last time, then left.

Naruto assumed Sasuke had contacted the agency and was demanding to speak with her. The man had likely expected them to be at her place, and - when they weren't - was now wanting her to disclose Naruto's location or any information she had on him. Naruto hadn't bothered to tell her to lie. He didn't want her to get in trouble over him. He had known this would happen and had packed the small number of his belongings into a bag that was ready to go as soon as he got showered and dressed. The agency's headquarters were at least twenty minutes away, assuming she caught a taxi immediately after leaving his apartment. It would give him plenty of time to get out. All he had to do was shove the bedding into the washing machine on sterilize, and all traces of his DNA would be gone. He'd hated the fact that he'd had to use condoms, but he wasn't about to let the woman walk out with his semen on her or in her. No way would he give those assholes what they wanted from him.

He'd flushed all the used condoms down the toilet after each round, and if the woman thought he was paranoid, she didn't comment on it. Given her line of work, he was pretty sure she'd seen stranger. Though - given his obsession with Sasuke - maybe not. He laughed softly at himself. He wondered how much further he could really take this thing. He and Sasuke had reached an uneasy truce, but he would be a fool to trust it to last. Sasuke wasn't an elite officer for nothing. And Naruto was still listed as a government fugitive. He wouldn't put Sasuke in conflict with his loyalties like that.

He needed to get showered, and get gone. He'd find a new hiding place, then make plans on where to go from there. Maybe he'd try to see Sasuke one last time before he left, though he knew that was foolish.

He was distracted enough that he didn't hear the sound of the lock in the front door slowly being turned. So he was not expecting the door to his bedroom to open silently. He was even less expecting the person who entered it. Sasuke's eyes raked over Naruto, taking in the destroyed bedding and scratch marks covering his chest and back.

Naruto was surprised at the thin edge of anger and… jealousy? that immediately entered the man's scent. Why would Sasuke be jealous over the hooker? Surely he knew that she had other clients, and Sasuke himself didn't seem to request her specifically. Naruto had only seen her with Sasuke twice in all the time he'd been watching him.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked, wondering if he should reach for the gun he had hidden under his pillow. Sasuke did not have his weapon drawn, and Naruto didn't want to escalate things if Sasuke was here to talk. He _did_ pull the sheet up so it at least would cover his dick. There was being exposed, then there was being _exposed._

Sasuke hadn't moved from the doorway of the bedroom, his face as expressionless as ever.

"You've been coming to my place. I figured it was time I came to yours. We have things to discuss."

* * *

_To be continued…_

**A/N** \- SO I _think_ this will be the last explicit het scene in this fic. If you made it through, congratulations! LOLOL. Next chapter will have some of the major 'plot' points revealed. As a reminder, this will be a short fic. Less than 10 chapters. I had originally planned for it to be 5-6 chapters, so saying less than 10 seems like a safe bet. We all know how much I suck at predicting these things.


	5. Control

**A/N:** As currently outlined, this story will have seven chapters. So that means is should definitely be not more than 10 LOL. As soon as Fades is finished updates should come more quickly here to tie this off!  Thanks to Annairea and Niomalia for beta'ing this chapter for me.

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Control**

_"What do you want?" Naruto asked, wondering if he should reach for the gun he had hidden under his pillow. Sasuke did not have his weapon drawn, and Naruto didn't want to escalate things if Sasuke was here to talk. He did pull the sheet up so it at least would cover his dick. There was being exposed, then there was being exposed._

_Sasuke hadn't moved from the doorway of the bedroom, his face as expressionless as ever._

_"You've been coming to my place. I figured it was time I came to yours. We have things to discuss."_

Sasuke's eyes were locked on him as he stood in the doorway, but gave nothing away. Naruto's eyes slid over the fitted black pants and shirt of Sasuke's uniform as he tried to get his mental bearings. He'd spent the last several hours fantasizing about Sasuke while he was with the prostitute, tasting him on her and remembering every inch of Sasuke's body as Naruto had watched him fuck her. To have Sasuke suddenly appear in his bedroom when he could still taste the man's cum on his lips was making it hard to focus, but Sasuke was not a man who should be underestimated under any circumstances.

Naruto didn't let his gaze falter as he slowly pulled himself into a sitting position on the bed, tugging the sheet with him as he moved to keep at least his lower half covered. Sasuke's eyes were watchful, as though he were analyzing every subtle shift of Naruto's body for possible attack.

"I'm just borrowing this place, or I would have invited you over sooner," Naruto said blithely, leaning back against the headboard and crossing his arms behind his head, hoping to show Sasuke he was willing to talk without weapons. Sasuke's eyes followed every movement, and Naruto knew that he would not be able to reach the gun hidden beneath the pillow without Sasuke drawing his weapon first.

Naruto drew a deep breath as Sasuke's scent reached him, not second-hand like it was from the woman's body, but from the man himself. It made Naruto's mouth water, and he ran the tip of his tongue over his lower lip to distract himself from it.

"Actually, you did kinda visit me first, though I can't say I ever thought of that cell as home. You still haven't told me why you were there."

"Hn," Sasuke acknowledged, still standing in the bedroom doorway, his eyes scanning the room and falling on the packed duffle where Naruto had all of his clothes and weapons, ready for a hasty exit. "Planning on leaving soon?"

Sasuke's voice was deep and carried a cold edge that Naruto didn't miss, despite still trying to get his brain to think of anything except whether or not Sasuke's stomach would have the same salty taste if he licked it as the trace of his sweat he licked off the hooker's stomach earlier that evening.

"I didn't think you'd be here so soon. You usually shower as soon as you're done with them." In the small enclosed space, Sasuke's pheromones were not dissipating as they had outside, and Naruto was struggling to keep track of what he was saying. "I figured I had another twenty minutes or so at least." Naruto blinked, then his brain finally produced a small offering of insight. "You knew I was going to meet her as soon as she left your apartment, so you just walked into the bathroom pretending to shower. But you hadn't even undressed except for your shirt. That's how you were able to get down so fast. You followed us here."

Sasuke didn't dispute it as he slowly stepped fully into the room, annoyance edging his scent. "And I got tired of waiting."

Naruto frowned. "Why wait?"

Sasuke approached Naruto with a fluid, predatorial gait until he was standing almost within arm's reach of him on the bed. His eyes seemed to take in every detail of the rumpled bed, and Naruto upon it. Naruto felt the skin across his bare chest draw tight at the focus of Sasuke's eyes locked on him. The hair at the back of his neck stirred along with his cock. Sasuke's scent was stronger at this range, and Naruto's eyes automatically slid to half-mast while Sasuke appeared to note every reaction Naruto was having to him with an assessing, measuring weight.

"You're the one who gets off on watching other people fuck," Sasuke said with detached calmness.

Naruto didn't pay attention to the meaning of the words, his eyes latched onto Sasuke's lips as they formed each one. But there was a shift in Sasuke's scent as he looked down at Naruto on the bed that caught Naruto's attention. He had expected Sasuke to be confused or… disgusted. But Sasuke smelled… arrogant and satisfied. The scent of someone who had just won a victory that they weren't expecting to, but that made no sense to Naruto. There was no battle here. The trace of jealousy that had been on Sasuke earlier had faded, but the new scent was such a sharp spike that it took Naruto a moment to process what Sasuke had said.

When he finally absorbed what the words implied, Naruto felt heat spread up his neck and across his cheekbones. "I don't… I just wanted…," he blew out an embarrassed breath, giving up on trying to explain his fixation. He didn't really understand it himself, having never experienced anything like it with any of the mates his jailers had tried to foist on him before. There really wasn't any way to make his strange obsession with Sasuke sound less creepy than what it was, so he decided he might as well just own it. "Fine. What I meant was, why care if she saw you come here? Why did you and your brother hide the fact that I was there today?"

Sasuke looked at him a moment as though debating how to answer. "If you get yourself caught, I have no intention of receiving a reprimand for not having turned you in."

The answer made sense, but Naruto was sure it was not the entire truth. He frowned, about to ask Sasuke more about it when suddenly Sasuke was leaning down over him, one arm braced on the headboard, his eyes fixed on Naruto's. Naruto vaguely noticed that Sasuke was wearing black leather gloves, but his gaze was caught by the pale flash of skin visible at Sasuke's wrists and all thoughts of what Naruto was about to say vanished. Sasuke's body came within inches of his, the air between them warming with their combined body heat. Sasuke hadn't showered, and Naruto could still smell the sharp tang of the blood of battle on him. The combination only made the scent of the man that much more darkly attractive and Naruto felt his pupils dilating, his muscles tightening with the need to claim this man as his. He looked up to find Sasuke's eyes on him, a dangerous glint in them.

"You really meant it when you said you broke out because you wanted to be able to watch me, didn't you, Naruto?" Sasuke hummed, his eyes unrelenting as they studied Naruto's face. Naruto was quite sure he could not lie to this man if his life depended on it. Naruto clenched his fingers around the solid wood of the headboard to prevent himself from wrapping them around Sasuke's strong, slender wrists and dragging him into the bed with him. Naruto's cock seemed to strain upward as though trying to close the distance between them. Sasuke looked down at him with a calculating, knowing look.

"When did you find out about the assassination attempt?"

The abrupt change of topic threw Naruto, and he answered the question reflexively.

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, trying to force himself to focus. "No. I just… I followed you. This morning," Naruto swallowed, trying to breathe through his mouth rather than his nose to clear his head from the intoxicating scent of Sasuke's body. "At first, when the drones came, I thought you'd pussied out and called them down on me. But then -"

"Then you heard the explosion from the other side of the city," Sasuke said, leaning back slightly, giving Naruto space to breathe, which Naruto did in short, shallow gasps. He could feel sweat forming between his shoulder blades, every pulse of his heart echoed by a throb in his dick. Sasuke was playing a dangerous game with him, but Naruto wasn't sure exactly what it was yet.

Naruto nodded, his eyes drifting down to where Sasuke's shirt, the unbuttoned collar revealing the pale, hard lines of Sasuke's throat and chest. It would only take him seconds to overpower him at this close range, a fact that Sasuke must be aware of. "Yeah, I… um… I found a motorcycle and followed you. If the main threat was on the west side of the city, you wouldn't have been sent to the northeast. But there was no back-up heading your way. It just… it didn't make any sense."

"And here your file had said you weren't very good at tactical planning," Sasuke said with an edge of sarcasm that Naruto knew was not likely directed at him.

Naruto finally lifted his gaze from Sasuke's chest. "My file?"

Sasuke didn't answer him, dismissing Naruto's question with a small gesture of his hand. "So it was just luck that you broke out of prison just in time to head off an exceptionally well-funded attempt to kill off my brother and me that's been over a year in the making. That's… almost funny."

The fact that Sasuke had pulled back slightly had given Naruto a chance for his brain to catch up somewhat, though he didn't let go of the headboard, just in case Sasuke did something foolish like lick his lips.

Naruto forced himself to look only at Sasuke's eyes, and not let himself look lower. "How do you know how long they took to plan it?"

Sasuke's eyes glinted and Naruto bit his lip to not make a sound at the look of the deadly intent suddenly emanating from the dark eyes. "Itachi… _persuaded_ the man he caught to tell us everything he knew."

"So you know who they are? I saw their guns. They were wearing your uniform, but they weren't from our army."

"The man Itachi found received his orders from his own superior, but they had received a guarantee that there would be no back-up for at least thirty minutes after the attack started." Sasuke lips curved slightly in dark amusement. "Which was why it was such a surprise to them when you showed up."

Naruto thought about that for a moment. He had likely made a fairly dangerous enemy today, if they realized who had thrown the monkey wrench in their carefully orchestrated plan. Luckily, he was used to having powerful enemies even within his own government. He decided that he gave zero fucks about this new development.

Sasuke watched him silently, evidently reading at least some of Naruto's thoughts on his face, and the subtle trace of arousal in Sasuke's scent returned, causing Naruto's blood to heat in response. "Somehow I didn't think that knowledge would make you turn tail and hide."

Naruto shrugged, his arms dropping to his sides, relieving the strain on his shoulders and hoping that the slight increase in distance between him and Sasuke would be enough to keep his control in check. "It took an army to bring me down before," a fact that Naruto wouldn't forget… the bitterness of the memory further clearing the haze of lust from his mind. "Fuck 'em. If they want to try for me, they can go right ahead and give it their best shot."

"Hn," Sasuke agreed, his gaze straying from Naruto's face to trail down along Naruto's body. "You were good today. I hadn't seen you fight during the war."

Naruto was very sure that Sasuke wasn't one to hand out compliments lightly, and he felt a slight flush rise up his neck.

"Thanks. You and Itachi are amazing together. I've never seen two people fight like that." Naruto gave a small chuckle as he thought about the way the attackers' scent had gone from poised and confident to 'what the fuck?' panic in about ten seconds flat. "It was fun."

Sasuke's scent took a sharp turn again, the note of jealousy back with force, but also something more complicated that Naruto couldn't even begin to decipher. Sasuke's face remained impassive.

"There's likely to be more… fun in the near future," Sasuke said carefully.

Naruto frowned, feeling a surge of protectiveness towards Sasuke. If anyone was going to play cat and mouse with Sasuke, it was going to be Naruto. Not some pussies hiding from a rooftop with sniper rifles. Naruto had never liked the idea of snipers, anyway... it went against his sense of fair play. When he killed, he wanted it to be a real battle that would show who the better soldier was, face-to-face.

"You said you would be willing to be my weapon," Sasuke said, adjusting the glove on his right hand, then looking back at Naruto. "If I asked."

Naruto stilled. He had been joking when he said that… just trying to provoke a reaction from Sasuke. But part of him had been serious. He was a soldier at heart. It was literally in his blood, what he had been trained to do since birth. But agreeing would mean staying in a country ruled by the very people who had betrayed him and were actively hunting him down. This fascination he had with Sasuke was dangerously addictive, and it wasn't going to lead to anything except probably getting him killed.

Sasuke slowly pulled out his gun, not releasing the safety. He tilted it, letting the light catch the polished barrel of the weapon. Naruto's hand had slid beneath the pillow to grip his own weapon, but Sasuke kept the gun pointed away from him. "I need a weapon that is completely on my side. One that whoever is behind this can't control or predict."

Sasuke looked calmly at Naruto. "You were classified as the most lethal soldier in our ranks. Your physical skills exceeded their expectations so much so that they weren't sure how to control you."

Naruto blew out a soft breath. "Yeah. They made that fucking clear by the end."

"They didn't think through all their options," Sasuke said, extended his arm, tracing the barrel of the gun down along Naruto's temple to his cheekbone. The safety was still on, but Naruto knew it would only take a fraction of a second to release it. Sasuke would neither hesitate nor miss if he decided to take the shot. The lust that Naruto had managed to push back earlier came back with an almost vicious force. His lips parted slightly, his eyes latching onto the pale column of Sasuke's throat where he could see the slow, steady pulse tick.

"Would you like to be my weapon, Naruto?" Sasuke's tone was disinterested, as if the answer was of no import. "Help me take out whoever has been pulling our strings from the shadows?"

Sasuke slid his hand forward, so his thumb brushed against Naruto's cheekbone. Naruto's jaw clenched against the urge to turn his head and take the digit into his mouth and taste Sasuke's skin directly. Sasuke leaned further in, so his words ghosted over Naruto's ear, the fabric of his shirt just barely brushing against Naruto's chest causing goosebumps to race across his skin. "I can make sure you don't have to ever go back to them. Just fight for me like you did today."

Naruto's legs shifted further apart as blood rushed painfully into his already hard cock and his back arched slightly. Naruto's fingers twisted harshly into the tangled sheets and mattress in a desperate attempt to keep from reaching out the short distance and dragging Sasuke into his bed. Sasuke's scent was deep and rich with the aftermath of battle and sex and Naruto could hardly think about anything other than his nearly overwhelming desire to taste this man directly. Sasuke's eyes drifted along the sweat-sheened skin of Naruto's bare chest to linger at where Naruto's erection was lewdly tenting the soft fabric of the sheets, but he was too turned on to be embarrassed.

"Fuck," Naruto gritted out.

"Will you be loyal to me, Naruto?" Sasuke was so close, it would be so easy for Naruto to just reach out and touch him. His lips parted to say 'yes', but at the last second, he clenched his jaw against the word. Before he agreed, he had to be able to think. He brought a hand up and pushed against Sasuke's chest to give himself so breathing room. Sasuke threw a glare, though he allowed himself to be pushed back enough to let some of the blood from Naruto's dick back to his brain.

"Maybe. What exactly are you asking me to do, Sasuke?" Naruto knew that he was still under the influence of Sasuke's magnetic hold on him, but he wasn't going to agree without even knowing what he was signing on for.

"Tch," Sasuke pulled his gun back and straightened, a flash of something crossing his face before Naruto could read it. Sasuke reached into the pocket of his shirt and pulled out a small device similar to the one that he always carried with him. "This is an encrypted communications device. It is only accessible from my own personal communicator."

Naruto looked at it, but didn't reach to take it. If there were explosives in it, Naruto would smell it, but there was no sign it was anything other than what Sasuke said it was.

"If I send you an order on this, you follow it. No matter what it is."

Naruto looked from it back to Sasuke.

"Not unless you tell me what this is all about."

Sasuke moved to put the device back in his pocket, but Naruto's hand flashed out, grabbing his wrist harshly. "You came to see me for a reason. I think you know why someone is trying to take you and your brother out. I don't mind helping, but I won't walk in blind."

Sasuke's stare was impenetrable, but eventually he spoke.

"Have you ever heard of the four bloodline clans?"

Naruto's brow creased as he thought about it. "Other than the Uchiha?"

"There were three others in our district. The Namikaze, the Uzumaki, and the Hyuuga."

"I remember hearing about the Hyuuga," Naruto said thoughtfully.

"The last of the Hyuuga was killed in the war. 'Friendly fire'."

Naruto nodded slowly. "Ok. What about the other two bloodlines you mentioned."

Sasuke looked at Naruto for a moment. "The last recognized members of either of those houses died twenty-three years ago."

Naruto had barely been born then, and he didn't think Sasuke was much older, but he supposed that whoever was behind this had to take their time to avoid being caught.

"So the Uchihas are the only ones left."

Sasuke gave a short nod. "And someone wants to fix that."

"But why? I thought the fact that we had powerful bloodlines in our regime was supposed to be an asset. Kept everyone else from wanting to invade."

Sasuke's lips curved into a cold smile. "But the war is over. The people who hold power in peacetime can have other skills. But the power of the clan names still commands respect."

"So… someone in power wants to get rid of you and your brother so they can get rid of the competition?"

Sasuke didn't confirm Naruto's statement, but he didn't deny it either.

"And they're high enough up in the government that you don't know who they own. That's why you need me."

"You are a wild card. They didn't expect you to interfere. That's an advantage worth maintaining. You told me you wouldn't go back to your cell unless it was in a body bag. Staying hidden will take resources. I have them."

Naruto considered Sasuke's offer. He didn't like to think of himself as a mercenary, but it wasn't clear who the legitimate 'government' even was when it was taking out its own like this. If he had to choose a side, he might as well choose Sasuke's. Sasuke had been honest with him, which was more than anyone else in the military had ever been. "Fine."

Sasuke arched a brow, and Naruto shrugged. "You made it clear that - whoever this is - they likely took the last of the Hyuuga out in the war as well. I know what it feels like to be betrayed by people who are supposed to be on your side. I'll help you take those assholes out." Naruto's gaze suddenly sharpened on Sasuke. "But if the government is trying to off you, why the fuck did you go back to your apartment?"

Sasuke's smile was cold. "Itachi is out of the country, out of their reach going after the leader of the soldiers that attacked us. Whoever is behind this won't get another shot at the two of us together again, and taking out only one of us would be… quite dangerous." The hair on the back of Naruto's neck stirred at the dark promise in Sasuke's as he spoke. "We called in our initial report of the attack on the general channels. Too many factions know someone is gunning for us. There would be no way to take me out in a building that tightly monitored without getting caught right now."

Naruto nodded, thinking through what Sasuke had said. "And it's a big 'fuck you' to whoever is behind this that you won't hide."

Sasuke smirked. "That, too."

That was a sentiment Naruto could fully get behind. "Fine. I'm in."

Satisfaction flashed through Sasuke's eyes at Naruto's agreement.

"There are ground rules," Sasuke said, his tone one of a man used to giving commands and having them obeyed.

Naruto wondered if it turned on all of Sasuke's subordinates as much as it did him.

"I'm not always good with rules," Naruto gave Sasuke a lopsided grin.

Sasuke's expression hardened. "You follow my rules if you're my weapon."

"Let's hear them, then."

"First, you go where I tell you to, when I tell you to, and take out whoever you find there."

Naruto had been trained as a soldier, and had obeyed the order to kill before, and from a less intelligent commander than Sasuke. In war, there wasn't time for lengthy explanations.

"Fine."

Sasuke gave a short nod in acceptance of Naruto's agreement. "Second, you don't talk to anyone but me about what we just discussed. And you tell me everything you learn."

"Not like I have drinkin' buddies I'm going to go hang out with."

"Last rule. You continue to live in this apartment unless I tell you otherwise."

Naruto arched a brow. "Why? They know where I am now."

"No. _I_ know where you are. I will be monitoring the reports on the search for you. If they figure out you're here, I'll notify you in time for you to get out. This location is... convenient."

Naruto tried not to think about the fact that Sasuke might actually spend _time_ in this apartment.

"Ok. I guess. Just until the job is done. But if I see anyone here who isn't invited, I'm not sticking around."

Sasuke nodded tersely in agreement, then tossed the shiny black device to Naruto, who easily caught it.

"Your access code is 097642. It has a link to a bank account I've set up with the same code. It's set up in a foreign district, so even if the regime here finds out about us, the funds will be safe once they're transferred."

Naruto frowned. "I told you before, money in a fucking bank doesn't do me any good. As soon as I walk in the door, every military officer within a ten block radius will be on my ass."

"The government where the account is set up has no diplomatic relationship with us. They would rather have their capital burned to the ground than give up their status as 'safe haven' for foreign investments. You'll get your money."

"Banks like that don't give accounts to regular citizens, only members of ruling families. I'll have to provide a DNA sample to get access to it, so a fake ID won't do me any good if you claimed I was some long-lost Uchiha."

"I didn't give you a fake name," Sasuke said, shrugging as he slid his gun back into its holster and headed toward the door.

"Sasuke, what the hell?"

Sasuke just continued walking out the door without looking back.

* * *

Naruto eyed the bag he'd packed earlier that day. He had accepted Sasuke's terms, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to be prepared to run at a moment's notice. Sasuke needed him for now, but that would change eventually, and Naruto didn't expect to get much warning when it did.

He ran his thumb over the screen of the communications device that Sasuke had given him, but the screen remained blank. He shrugged, slipping it into the pocket of his jeans. If Sasuke had given it to him to keep in contact, he was sure it would work when the time came.

He showered and dressed in dark clothes with a hooded sweatshirt, deciding to go and check out the site of the bomb blast. He could still smell the lingering traces of Sasuke's scent, and he needed to get his head clear. Enough time had passed that the majority of the security forces there would be clear. He didn't really expect to find something that Sasuke wouldn't already know, but Sasuke wasn't sharing all his intel with Naruto.

The brisk night air helped dispel the lingering hold Sasuke had on his senses.

He frowned as he walked quickly down the sidewalk, playing the exchange with Sasuke back in his mind. Sasuke hadn't seemed bothered by Naruto's strange attraction to him. Given that he wanted Naruto to work for him, it seemed he viewed it as an edge to keeping Naruto's loyalty. Naruto couldn't really fault the man for using an advantage when he had one. If he was going up against his own government, he would need it. But Naruto knew he would have to keep his head in the game if he was going to live very long.

With his mind free of the grip of Sasuke's pull on him, it was clear that Naruto had let himself be manipulated into agreeing faster than he probably should have. Surprisingly, he wasn't all that annoyed about it. Sasuke hadn't been lying when he'd glossed over the fact that the strongest families in the State were being taken out. Killed by stealth and deception, rather than fair, open combat. Naruto was more than happy to help even out the odds if he could. Even without his attraction to Sasuke, he probably would have agreed to help.

This arrangement suited Naruto. It would give him a chance to finally get Sasuke out of his system at the same time he earned some money to help him escape the iron fist of the regime's control. He'd given his word to Sasuke that he would take this on, and - unlike the government that had created him - Naruto wouldn't go back on his word.

He caught a familiar scent and stilled. He had just entered the part of the city where the bomb had gone off earlier, but the scent was not that of the soldiers or police sent to secure the area.

Naruto's eyes scanned the rooftops from beneath the hood of his sweatshirt, careful to keep his face away from the cameras that he knew monitored the city streets. He ducked into an alley. For a normal human, it might have limited his escape options, but Naruto had no problems scaling walls if he needed to. Plus, he had a gun now, which significantly evened the odds if he got attacked by any of the soldiers who were gunning for Sasuke. And eyes that could see in the dark.

Though - based on the scent - he was pretty sure his opponent could do the same.

The sound was so soft it would have been unnoticed by almost anyone else, but Naruto turned in time to see a figure dressed in dark clothing similar to his own appear on the landing of the fire escape two stories up, evidently having come from the roof. Naruto slid his right hand into the pocket of his jacket, his fingers easily gripping the handle of the weapon concealed there.

"You've been following me," Naruto said, his voice carrying no trace of nerves. He could recognize the scent of a fellow Jinchuuriki, and knew better than to show any sort of weakness. He could hold his own in battle, as long as it was a fair fight. Though he knew he had no guarantees of that.

The man swung himself over the railing of the fire escape, landing easily about twenty feet from Naruto in the narrow alley. Naruto's fingers didn't move on the gun he held. He would only kill if he had to.

"Sometimes," the soft, gravel-rough male voice replied. "I've had other things to attend to, though."

The two men eyed each other in the darkness, measuring each other up. Naruto's first assessment of the Jinchuuriki weeks ago was only strengthened. This man was powerful. But he wasn't stronger than Naruto. A battle between them would not be easy, unless Naruto used his gun, but he wouldn't do so unless forced into it. He had no grudge against one of his own kind.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked carefully.

The man tilted his head to the side, as though considering the question. "I wanted to repay you."

Naruto frowned. "If you mean for breaking out, you don't owe me for that. I hoped that some of the others would escape, but I did it for my own reasons."

The man shrugged. "You didn't need to smash up the control room on your way out. It only slowed you down."

Naruto blushed slightly. Ok, maybe he really had wanted to try to make sure as many of the other 'weapons' got a chance to escape, but he didn't do it for any sort of payment. Luminescent green eyes watched him from the darkness.

"I have access to the city surveillance systems," the man said.

Naruto's eyes widened. Those were the highest security systems in the entire government, used to record and observe and manipulate its citizens.

"How?"

"A… contact. She's fairly high up in the military intelligence. I've been watching you. Deleting the footage of you."

"But I avoid the cameras! I'm careful." Naruto felt incensed that somehow someone he didn't even know had been cleaning up after him. He wasn't an amateur at this.

"Yes, you do a very good job of avoiding the cameras. But there are satellites that cover the buildings where high-ranking members of the government and military stay. And the surrounding rooftops."

"Fuck." Then the government knew that he had been in contact with Sasuke. He'd have to find some way to warn him. "You said you deleted the footage, though?"

"Sometimes. Though usually, someone deleted them before I had a chance to, or had the cameras disabled in advance. Your Uchiha has very high clearance."

Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief. Then Sasuke knew, and he had it covered.

"But he was held up today," the man continued. "Luckily, the bombs going off distracted the usual group who monitors the feeds. But there was video of you that was left untouched. You had a busy morning."

Naruto's body tensed. Was the man going to blackmail him? He'd said his contact was a woman, but there were likely several women in that department. Naruto didn't want to have to kill them all.

"I deleted the footage, but someone appeared to be monitoring the feed realtime, at least the footage at the ambush site. The other cameras should be fine. But the Uchihas aren't the only ones who know that you intervened today."

Naruto licked his dry lips. "Do you know who was watching it?"

The man shook his head. "But my… contact said the camera angles in that part of town had been changed. There are very few people with the authority to have that done. Less than ten."

Naruto's pulse spiked. Sasuke would know who those ten were, he was sure.

"You… uh… know a lot about me."

The man stepped forward, the street light hitting his face, showing Naruto pale skin, green eyes, and red hair peeking out from beneath the man's hood.

"Yes," he said, offering his hand. "I'm Gaara."

Naruto hesitated a moment, realizing he would have to release his gun to take the offered hand. He met the man's gaze, drawing in a breath to detect any trace of aggression or deception.

There was none.

Naruto released his gun and took the man's hand in a firm grasp.

"Naruto."

The man's lips curve into a tiny smile. "I know."

They looked at each other for a moment, then Gaara's eyes flickered down to the pocket that held Naruto's newly acquired gun.

"You are more trusting than most of us are."

Naruto shrugged. "I can kill when I have to. It's no challenge to kill someone who isn't even fighting."

Gaara looked at him curiously. "You know they won't let you stay here. The government is still hunting us."

"You're still here, too."

Gaara studied him for a moment, then seemed to reach a decision. "Only until I can get my sister out."

Naruto blinked, not sure if Gaara meant a _sister_ sister, or just a fellow Jinchuuriki. "Is she still in the medical facility?"

Gaara hesitated, then answered. "No. She isn't one of us."

"You have… a family?"

Gaara's eyes hardened. "We all did. We just were never told about it. She found me."

Naruto's chest tightened. "Do you know if I have a family?"

"I don't know. My sister said most of the families were eliminated when the children were brought into the program."

"But not all of them, right? I mean, you have a sister."

Gaara's faces lost all expression, and his scent turned cold and hard. "My father gave me up willingly to them. They had no reason to eliminate him. He's the one we need to avoid when we leave the city. He won't be willing to let her go."

"Oh." Naruto felt a heaviness settle into his chest. If his family was alive, it was only because they didn't want him. If he had a family who had loved him, then they were all dead.

Gaara seemed to be able to read some of Naruto's thoughts on his face.

"I'm sorry."

Naruto gave him a half-hearted grin. "Wasn't your fault."

Gaara gave a small nod of acknowledgement. "Once my sister is safely out of the city, I won't be able to monitor the satellite feeds. You'll have to stay out of sight."

Naruto's mind raced quickly. The rooftops had been the best way to avoid the cameras that monitored the streets. "Storm sewers?"

"Or a motorcycle helmet. That was a good idea you had, by the way. The person monitoring the Uchihas won't be able to tell where you came from. Too many cameras to look at all at once, and I deleted the footage, so he won't be able to search it."

"Thanks." Naruto would still have to watch his back, but this was a big help.

Gaara said nothing, but glanced down at his watch. "I have to go."

Naruto nodded. "Ok. I'm just going to check this place out a bit."

"Not much to see. The explosion here was just a distraction. I checked it out earlier. The charge was set to make the most noise but do almost no damage."

"Yeah. That's what I figured."

Gaara turned and walked to a side door of the building he'd just come from.

"Hey!" Naruto called after him. Gaara turned to look at him. "Good luck. With your sister. I don't know where I'm going to be when I'm done with everything here, but… I might have some funds, if you ever need anything. Come find me."

The tiny smile reappeared on the man's face. "Thank you. If there's time, I'll let you know where we're going."

Naruto felt an answering smile spread on his face as the man disappeared inside the building. He hoped Gaara made it out of the city ok.

He wondered what the best way was to let Sasuke know what he'd learned, though he had a feeling Sasuke was not going to be happy that someone knew of their connection.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	6. The play

**A/N:** Sorry this is so late.  For those of you who follow my website, you know why so I won't re-hash here.  Updates will probably not speed up in the near future, but there is not much left to this story.  UN-BETA'D.  Thanks to Tandy_Hard for reading parts of this!!

* * *

**Chapter 6 - The play  
**

Naruto made sure to keep his hoodie pulled down low, covering his hair and as much of his face as he could as he made his way back to his apartment. He had to fight the urge to look up at the sky, knowing that - even with his enhanced vision - he'd never be able to see the satellites that were monitoring the city.

He felt tense and uncertain. Could he trust Gaara that the footage showing him and Sasuke had been deleted? Even if Gaara was being honest (and Naruto would have been able to smell the lie), Gaara might _think_ he covered Naruto's tracks, but what if he hadn't been the only one who saw it? Anyone could have been watching him - could still be watching him - tracking his every movement… knowing where he slept and how he spent his days. On top of that, all it would take was one text from Sasuke and the entire army would be crashing into his apartment.

Naruto hunched his shoulders forward, then relaxed them again, slipping his hands into his pockets. Oh, well. It wasn't like he hadn't faced down the military before. At least this time he would be expecting it.

Three blocks from his apartment, he turned down a side street, walking until he reached a small tavern he'd found when he'd first broken out of his captivity. It was dark and smoky, and catered to people who wanted to stay in the shadows. He ate most of his meals here. The patrons of places like this were good at forgetting faces and names, and Naruto knew they had no interest in turning anyone in to the government that had driven them to live in the underbelly of society. The people here also had good instincts for reading the relative danger level of others, a necessary condition for continued survival, and they always gave Naruto a wide berth. They might not know who or what Naruto was, but they could tell he was _not_ someone to fuck with. That suited him just fine.

Naruto sat on a stool in the corner, undisturbed as he leaned back against the wall, fully aware of the wary but often appreciative glances cast his way, knowing that no one would approach him unless Naruto indicated he wanted them to. He ran his thumb over the condensation on the side of his beer bottle, considering his options.

It would be stupid to go back to the apartment. Sasuke had told him not to move, but Naruto didn't really have to obey. He ordered another beer, wanting to think about it a bit more before he decided. He knew that Sasuke was playing him. It was pretty obvious, but somehow… Naruto didn't mind being played. Sasuke wasn't bothering to hide it. Naruto shrugged. He supposed if he was going to be used as a weapon, at least would get to choose who the wielder would be this time around.

But that didn't mean he _trusted_ Sasuke.

Naruto took another sip of his beer, the slightly bitter liquid fill his mouth.

Sasuke liked to be in control. That was clear. Would he look for someone else if Naruto disobeyed him on the apartment thing? Naruto didn't think so. He wasn't being arrogant, but he would be hard to replace. There were only so many G-mods out there, very few with his level of power and even fewer who would be willing to entertain Sasuke's proposition.

Sasuke probably wouldn't sever their deal, but he wouldn't be happy.

Naruto decided he could live with that. He'd left his bag in the apartment, but it would be a few days before he went back to check on it. _Technically_ , he wasn't moving out. He just… wasn't going to sleep there until he had a chance to see who seemed to notice that fact.

That meant that he had to find another place to sleep, at least for the night. Naruto glanced around the bar. He knew that there were several sets of eyes that had been watching him since he came in, a few with wariness but several with invitation. He could easily find a bed to share for the night, but - aside from his one fixation with Sasuke - he had never been particularly attracted by anyone else. Plus, Gaara's warning had struck deep and the last thing Naruto wanted was to drag someone else into this mess. The hookers Sasuke purchased were already involved, at least peripherally. But the people here were not, and Naruto wouldn't be the one to change that. They had their own problems without adding his to the pile.

Shacking up with a random person might be out, but there were always warehouses or storerooms that he could slip into at night to sleep. They would be warmer than trying to sleep outside, and the roofs would shield him from the eyes that searched for him from the skies. He didn't know if Sasuke was watching his place or not, but he'd deal with him when he talked to him again. For now, he needed to lay low and make sure that no one besides Sasuke and Gaara knew where he was staying.

He also had to find a way to get word to Sasuke about what Gaara had told him. He glanced toward the door to the back room of the tavern. One reason why the place was so popular with the rougher crowd was that its cellar had easy access to the sewer lines and old transit tunnels that ran beneath the city. Several less reputable establishments had storage rooms that connected to them. It would allow Naruto to evade detection from the satellites and find a warm place to spend the night.

The full weight of the day was finally starting to hit him. It was hard to believe that it had only been that morning that he'd had Sasuke pinned on the roof. Then everything had gone crazy when Sasuke had received the emergency summons. The injuries Naruto had sustained in the battle across town were aching, none of which had been helped by his evening with the hooker. Sasuke's surprise visit and offer, then his encounter with Gaara had left Naruto's mind spinning. He needed to just find someplace quiet to think.

He didn't dare tempt fate by wondering if anything else was going to get thrown at him that day, but he really wished he could just go home and crawl into his own goddamn bed (even if it wasn't really his) and not have to spend another hour or so finding a safe place to sleep, but he didn't dare take the chance that someone other than Sasuke knew where he was.

He sighed, finishing his beer and heading off to the rear entrance of the pub. He felt a few eyes follow him, but no one was foolish enough to stare too long. The bartender nodded in casual acknowledgement as Naruto slipped into the storage room, then down the stairs that led to the cellar.

* * *

Naruto quietly opened the door to what he hoped was a storage room or cellar. He'd walked hat he estimated to be about four blocks underground, so he should be safe enough if someone came looking for him at the bar. He didn't turn the lights on, his eyes already adjusted to the darkness. He could make out shelves and boxes. A quick scan of one of the shelves found a stack of sheets and blankets. It _could_ have been a hotel, but the heavy scent of sex that hung in the air indicated a different sort of establishment. Naruto was fine with that. He just hoped they wouldn't feel the need to change the sheets in the rooms until morning.

He grabbed a couple of blankets and found a dark corner behind a stack of boxes. Even if someone came in and turned the lights on, he would be safe from casual detection. And if they came in looking for him, then… well, he'd handle that, too.

He could faintly hear the sounds of someone groaning in pleasure through the floorboards above him, and the squeak of a bed frame making a rhythmic percussion on the wall. He felt no response of his own, however. The scents in the air held no interest to him. The sounds of sex of random people were simply a background noise he easily shut out as he stretched his weary muscles on his makeshift bed on the floor. The blankets were clean and he was too exhausted to think about anything other than rest and healing his body from the day's injuries and his encounter with Sasuke. His mind flickered briefly to wonder what sounds Sasuke made when he had sex, if his voice got lower and deeper in the throes of pleasure, or if he remained silent and in control the entire time. Given the heavy glass on Sasuke's bedroom window, Naruto knew he'd likely never find out.

He checked the communications device that Sasuke had given him one last time before laying down and falling almost instantly asleep.

* * *

The soft sounds of muffled footsteps pulled Naruto from sleep. The room was completely dark, but given that it was an underground storage room, the darkness gave no indication of what time it was. His internal clock told him it was past mid-morning. He had slept for a long time, but his body clearly had needed it. He wasn't worried. If anything had happened, Sasuke would have sent him a message and the screen was as black now as it had been before he fell asleep.

Careful not to make any noise, Naruto slipped out of the storage room and back into the tunnels he had come from. When he reached the door that led to the tavern cellar, he went to turn the handle, only to find it locked.

"Fuck," he muttered. Evidently, the place left the door open during business hours, but he was pretty sure they didn't open their doors for customers before lunch.

Not wanting to experiment with other possible establishments, given the shady nature of the business that sometimes got done there, he made his way back to the room he had slept in. He listened carefully at the door before slipping in then quietly making his way up the stairs. He could hear voices from another room, but the rest of the building seemed still asleep. The light coming in from the windows confirmed that it was definitely late morning, if not early afternoon. He felt a vibration in his hoodie pocket from the device Sasuke had given him. Luckily, it didn't make any other sound to draw attention, but he didn't want to stand around trespassing while he read whatever message Sasuke was sending him. He put a hand over his nose to try to block out the heavy, cloying scent of too much perfume and sex and made his way quickly to the front door, slipping easily out onto the streets. He could feel the continued buzzing of the communicator and wondered what it was that Sasuke was sending.

He kept his hood low as he ducked around the nearest corner into a narrow alley, stepping behind a dumpster as he pulled out the device. Naruto frowned. The timestamp of the first message was one in the morning. Hours ago. Why was he just getting it now?

_Received 1:07 am - You just disappeared from the gps tracking. What the fuck is going on?_

Naruto scrolled down through a series of message.

_Received 1:32 am - You aren't in your apartment. Where are you?_

_Received 1:52 am - Your last known location was a bar six blocks from my apartment. This was not what we agreed to. Confirm your current location._

Naruto blinked. He hadn't realized that Sasuke had been tracking his movements, but he wasn't really surprised. Evidently, being underground blocked the signal of whatever tracking system Sasuke had on the communicator. And - judging by the tone of his messages - that had pissed Sasuke off.

Naruto's lips twitched in amusement. Somehow, he really fucking liked the idea that Sasuke had been keeping tabs on him last night. Or at least trying to. Now that the phone was active, he could reply to the messages. He quickly typed out.

_Sent 10:28 am - Aw, did you miss me, baby?_

Sasuke's reply was almost immediate. It was an address about four blocks from where Naruto was followed by a terse:

_Received 10:29 am - Be there in ten minutes._

Naruto huffed out a snort of laughter, but he couldn't deny the low thrum that heated through his blood at the thought of Sasuke demanding his immediate presence. He hummed at the thought of Sasuke up all night looking for him, pissed off that he didn't know where Naruto was. It hadn't been Naruto's intent, but… he certainly didn't mind it. He grinned.

"Bossy asshole." He didn't bother texting a reply. Rather than taking to the rooftops, Naruto hunched his shoulders, keeping his face fully covered by his grey hoodie as he jogged the four blocks to the location Sasuke had given him. He was tempted to make Sasuke wait, just on matter of principle, but he decided that letting him know what he'd learned from Gaara was more important than yanking his chain. At least, for the moment.

* * *

Naruto slowed as he neared the address Sasuke had given him, his senses on alert as he looked for the man. Naruto could feel his pulse kick up when he caught a faint trace of Sasuke's scent. He was close… Naruto could feel him. He turned in a slow circle, scanning the surrounding rooftops and windows, looking for his prey. The sound of a door opening midway down the alley caught his attention. Naruto turned, his hand reaching into his pocket and sliding easily over the handle of his gun.

Sasuke stood in the shadows of the doorway, his face cold and impassive.

"I told you to stay in your apartment," Sasuke bit out shortly, a commander reprimanding a soldier who had not fully obeyed his orders. Naruto felt his hackles rise. He was obeying Sasuke by _choice._ But he didn't have to. Sasuke stepped back, signaling for Naruto to come inside.

Naruto walked slowly towards him, deliberately not hurrying to follow as he analyzed Sasuke's scent. He could smell tension. Annoyance. And… relief? What would Sasuke have been relieved about? Naruto stepped through the doorway into a large, dark room. The only light came from the sunlight that filtered through the grimy window. The air was heavy with dust and disuse.

"You didn't tell me I was confined to quarters, _Commander_. My shit's still in the apartment. I just was out last night." Naruto glanced around at what appeared to be an abandoned factory.

Sasuke's dark eyes narrowed. "I noticed."

Naruto wondered if Sasuke meant he had noticed Naruto's movements on the tracking device, or if he actually had gone to Naruto's apartment to see if his stuff had been cleared out. Sasuke continued speaking before Naruto could ask.

"What you were doing at the bomb site?"

Naruto could feel Sasuke's eyes on him as he walked further into the room. He turned to see Sasuke leaning back against a stack of large, wooden crates with an air of casual negligence. It was a good front, but there was no disguising the tightly coiled strength in Sasuke's body, or the way his dark eyes followed Naruto's every movement. If Naruto attacked, Sasuke would be ready.

Naruto shrugged, his eyes adjusting to the low light enough to see the room was empty except for some sort of large, heavy equipment that looked like some sort of old metal press in one side of the room. "Thought I'd go see what all the fuss was about. Or if anyone left anything behind that they hadn't meant to."

"We had a team of experts analyze the site."

Naruto gave a lopsided grin. "Yeah, there was nothing there. It was clearly set to make the most noise and do the least damage, but they didn't put any real effort in it. Of course, you already knew it was just a distraction."

"So you didn't learn anything new."

"Mm, I wouldn't say that." Naruto felt a rush of adrenaline at the almost tangible way that Sasuke's attention sharpened.

"What did you see?"

Naruto ran his tongue along the back of his teeth, loving the laser focus of Sasuke's narrowed gaze on him. He wondered if Sasuke could count his pulse with those eyes. "Turns out I wasn't the only one there lookin' around."

"Who?" Sasuke's voice was razor cold.

"A friend from school," Naruto smirked, putting his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels, giddy with the feel of Sasuke's eyes on him. "One of the top students, I'd guess."

Sasuke didn't take more than a second to catch up. He frowned, his eyes running more thoroughly over Naruto's form, as though looking for signs of injury. "A G-mod? Why were they there?"

Naruto shrugged. He'd already decided he'd tell Sasuke only the parts of his conversation with Gaara that were relevant to Sasuke. "Curiosity. Maybe some other reasons. But he gave me a heads up that someone was watching the part of town where the surprise party for you and your brother went down yesterday. They know I was there."

Sasuke stilled. "No one mentioned that in the debriefing."

Naruto nodded, watching while Sasuke processed the information and its implications. "The files are deleted, so they don't have proof. But someone was on the live feed. They know."

"Fuck," Sasuke levered himself away from the wall as he seemed to sort through the implications. "Did your _contact_ have any idea who it was?"

Naruto could smell Sasuke's annoyance that he was holding information back, but Sasuke was just going to have to suck it up. "Someone who could have the camera configurations changed the night before. And the satellite feeds re-routed. A heads up on the satellites might have been nice, by the way."

Sasuke looked unconcerned by Naruto's displeasure. "If you were dumb enough to get spotted, that's not my problem. You'd been escaped from the military facility for weeks. I figured you must have known about it to avoid being spotted this long."

"Hmm," Naruto said skeptically, though Sasuke did have a point. The only reason he _hadn't_ been caught was that Gaara had evidently been looking out for him. "He's been deleting the footage. But that didn't work when they already knew where to look and were monitoring it live."

"If he deleted it later, they'll know that someone is in the system. They will be looking for him, now."

Naruto hadn't thought of that, but of course Sasuke was right. He felt his stomach tighten. He hoped Gaara had already figured that out, but he had no way to get in touch with him and warn him.

As though anticipating Naruto's concern, Sasuke pressed his advantage. "If you tell me his name, I might be able to find him. How does he have access to the city's surveillance systems? None of the G-mods were taught cyber-tactics."

Naruto's lips quirked up. Like he'd fall for a ploy like that. Sasuke didn't have any way of tracking Gaara. He just wanted to know what Naruto knew. "He has a friend. And it doesn't matter who it is. He's got his own agenda to try to get out of the city."

Sasuke clearly heard the implied 'not going to answer you' in Naruto's reply, and the scent in the room changes to something dark and dangerous that makes Naruto's blood run hot.

Sasuke walks toward Naruto in slow, measured strides. "You're not going to give me his name?"

Naruto doesn't flinch from Sasuke's gaze, the cold look of command coming from the dark eyes only makes Naruto want to lick a long, wet stripe up the man's throat.

Naruto tilts his head to the side, a cocky grin on his face. "Nope. Not even if you ask _nicely_."

Sasuke came to a standstill only inches from Naruto, eyes locked and uncompromising.

"Tell me," Sasuke ordered. Naruto could feel the controlled heat emanating from Sasuke's body. He was grateful that the overdose of perfume he'd breathed in earlier was still partially blocking his senses, since it allowed him to be less swayed by the _delicious_ fucking scent of Sasuke exerting his authority.

Naruto chuckled softly. "You keep thinking that you can actually _control_ me, Sasuke. It doesn't work like that." He shrugged. "But I'll give you the name of the person monitoring us, if he finds out who it is. But my friend has his own plan to get out of the city, and it doesn't concern you."

"I'm one of the top-ranking members of our military. The placement of any of our _weapons_ concerns me."

Naruto leaned forward, the breath from his lips brushing against Sasuke's ear. "He's not your weapon anymore," he whispered mockingly.

Sasuke's hand fisted into Naruto's hair, jerking his head back harshly. "But _you're_ still _my_ weapon."

Naruto felt his eyes drift half closed as blood slammed into his cock like a bullet train at the possessive aggressiveness of Sasuke's hand in his hair.

"Only for as long as you can control me, Uchiha."

Sasuke's eyes slid down to where Naruto was sure his erection was clearly visible, even through the heavy fabric of his dark jeans.

"I think I'll manage." Sasuke tightened his grip, pulling Naruto's head back at a more pronounced arc.

Despite the awkward angle of his neck, Naruto managed a chuckle. In the next second, he had Sasuke's wrist held in a bruising grip as he abruptly leaned backwards and pivoted, flipping Sasuke over and pinning him to the dirty floor.

Sasuke grunted slightly at the impact, his jaw tensed, but that was the only response from him as Naruto gripped his wrists and pressed them down on the rough wood as he leaned over Sasuke.

"Don't get over-confident, Sasuke," Naruto said with a feral grin. "I'm only here because I _want_ to be."

"That's right," Sasuke murmured. "You want to be here." This time, Sasuke didn't bother straining against Naruto's unbreakable hold. He used his strength to straighten his arms out to the side, the back of his wrists scraping along the coarse floorboards. Naruto's grip held firm, but the movement drew Naruto's torso down until it was almost brushing Sasuke's.

Naruto could feel the heat and power radiating from Sasuke's body, and the pulse of the man where he gripped Sasuke's wrists. He let his gaze slip to Sasuke's throat, momentarily distracted by the closeness of him.

That moment of distraction was all it took before Sasuke's legs scissored out, flipping them over. Sasuke had his gun drawn and pointed in the center of Naruto's head in less than a second.

"You want to be here, so stop fucking around." Sasuke's voice was cold and calm, but his scent was shifting to something much more interesting.

Naruto laughed, his eyes twinkling delightedly at the idea that Sasuke got off on violence and power. Of course he did. "Fast learner. I guess the same moves won't work on you twice." Naruto sat up, still grinning and completely ignoring Sasuke's gun against his forehead. Sasuke's hand slowly was pushed back by Naruto's head against the gun. "But we both know you're not going to shoot me. Not until we've caught the guys gunning for you and your brother."

Sasuke lifted his gun, giving a small shrug of agreement. "Fine."

Naruto rolled his eyes as he stood, brushing the dirt off his backside. "The only reason I didn't go back to the apartment last night was that I wasn't sure if the people who watched the video of the failed hit yesterday figured out where I was staying. I decided to lay low, then go check the place out today. I was hoping to try to find a way to get in touch with you but -" Naruto grinned again. "- you beat me to it."

"Hn." Sasuke returned his gun to its holster. "I have the surveillance feed from your building redirected to me. No one's been in or near your apartment since you left it."

Naruto arched a brow. "And you accuse _me_ of liking to watch," he murmured.

"You do," Sasuke stated, walking forward so his shoulder brushed against Naruto's. "That's what you're hanging around for, right?"

"Hmm," Naruto hummed noncommittally.

"Your official records said you showed no sexual interest in any of the breeding partners they sent you."

Naruto grimaced. "Ugh. Do you have to say it like that? Breeding partners? Really?"

"Even when they tried to hop you up on aphrodisiacs, you didn't respond at all." Sasuke looked intently at Naruto.

"Yeah, well… so?" Naruto was confused by the abrupt change Sasuke's scent.

"You sent the night in a whore house. Making up for lost time?"

There was an edginess and possessiveness in Sasuke's scent that Naruto didn't know how to read.

"I slept in the store room. _You're_ the one with the hooker habit. I was just trying to avoid the satellites. I didn't know it would make your phone thing not work and make you flip your shit."

"I didn't -," Sasuke shot him a glare. "Don't go underground. If I find out anything, I can't contact you if you're out of range. And the prostitutes keep my supervisors convinced I am having 'normal interactions'. It simplifies things."

Naruto snorted. "Fucking hookers twice a week makes them think you're _normal_?"

Sasuke ignored his comment, which only piqued Naruto's curiosity more. He supposed that it was no surprise that the government put almost as tight a leash on Sasuke as it had on Naruto. They were both valuable, dangerous weapons of the state. It explained why Sasuke had generally seemed to be… slightly disinterested in the 'services' the prostitutes provided him.

"Whatever," Naruto breathed out, giving up on Sasuke actually responding. He looked around the room. "What about this place? Is it safe to meet here, if something goes wrong?"

"It's not in one of the high security blocks, so it doesn't have as much drone coverage as some of the other buildings. And no cameras inside."

"Good enough," Naruto said. "So if I feel itchy at my place, I can come here, and you'll still be able to find me and not get your panties in a twist."

Sasuke's lips tightened, but he nodded tersely.

"I'll contact you." Sasuke turned and walked toward the door.

"Hey! How does this thing work? If I need to contact you? If I learn anything else."

Sasuke didn't look back as he opened the door. "Hold your thumb down in the center of the screen for three seconds. That will activate it."

"How did you get my thumb print?"

The door closed behind Sasuke. The elite officer didn't even break stride, much less bother to respond to Naruto's question.

"Fucking asshole. Never answers my goddamn questions," Naruto muttered. He realized that Sasuke likely had access to all of his medical records, so getting his thumbprint was probably not hard.

He shrugged. There wasn't really anything he could do about it. Either Sasuke would use it against him or he wouldn't.

He thought about how Sasuke had turned the tables on him when he'd had the man pinned. No one had ever managed that before. He let out a low chuckle, thinking about how steady Sasuke's hand had been when he'd leveled the gun at Naruto's head.

_Fuck, that was hot._

Naruto hummed to himself as he slowly made his way around the abandoned factory, taking stock of the place just in case he had to make use of it later. Some of the floorboards were loose. Naruto made a mental note to 'borrow' a few more weapons and store them here, just in case things went sideways later on.

* * *

The next three days were tense. Naruto was careful to stick to narrow alleyways and the cover of eaves and doorways to minimize visibility from the skies. He had no idea if Gaara was still in town and watching his back, but he couldn't count on it. Whoever was gunning for Sasuke knew that Naruto had been involved, and that Sasuke had lied about it. They would be watching, hunting for Naruto even more now.

He'd managed to store two weapons in the warehouse, but he'd kept to sleeping in his old apartment. He wanted to minimize the risk of the warehouse being discovered as much as possible. He'd gone back to the site of the blast and left a note taped to the underside of the fire escape Gaara had come down from, with the simple message of " _They're trying to trace you"._

He had no idea if Gaara would find it or not, but the note was gone the following morning. Naruto decided that he would check the fire escape periodically just in case Gaara had gotten his message and ever left one in return. There was an overall sense of unease that had settled over the city after the apparently unexplained bombing. News of the attack on the Uchiha brothers had somehow leaked, and the government was doing all it could to shut down any unauthorized reporting on the situation.

The entire city felt like it was holding its breath, waiting, like the pregnant pause before a storm when the skies are about to open up. The collective anxiety was seeping into Naruto's pores and putting him even more on edge.

It didn't help that Sasuke had evidently decided to give a big 'fuck you' to whoever was targeting him by refusing to lay low or slow down in any way at all. It wasn't like Naruto didn't appreciate the sentiment, but it just added to the growing sense of disquiet building as he waited for something to happen. Naruto would have been more annoyed by Sasuke's seeming disregard for his own safety, except for the visible tension and alertness that Naruto could see in Sasuke's frame. Sasuke wasn't taking this lightly. He was taunting the people behind this... daring them to make a move against him with all eyes watching and Itachi out of reach.

Naruto crouched silently on the ledge as he watched Sasuke dress for the day. Sasuke didn't turn to look over his shoulder at the window while he dressed, pulling on his tight, black uniform pants over his hard thighs and hips. Naruto's eyes glowed red in the darkness as he watched the way Sasuke's pale, nimble fingers efficiently slipped the black belt through the loops, then fastened the buckle before pulling on the dark shirt and finally holstering his weapon.

The slight trace of a smirk on Sasuke's lips made Naruto grit his teeth. _Asshole._

Naruto felt a low growl deep in his throat at the idea that someone might be foolish enough to try to take the opening Sasuke seemed to be giving them, though he was sure that Sasuke would be ready for whatever attempt was made.

And if he wasn't, Naruto would be.

The sound of a motorcycle engine starting made Naruto realize that Sasuke had already left his apartment and was heading out on whatever assignment had been given to him that day. Naruto stayed frozen, invisible on his dark ledge as he watched Sasuke disappear down the street. As Sasuke left his apartment, a green map and red moving dot appeared on Naruto's com device, allowing Naruto to track Sasuke's movements. They had agreed this was safer now that they knew someone knew they were working together.

Naruto jumped down to street level, pulling on the 'borrowed' police helmet and jacket before starting his own motorcycle. He'd easily located and removed the vehicle's tracking device. It was a simple matter to follow Sasuke from a distance, blending in with the morning traffic, invisible to the eyes scanning for him.

* * *

Something was wrong.

Naruto couldn't smell it or see it or hear it, but every bone in his body was screaming that shit was going down. The little red dot on the screen that indicated Sasuke's position had stopped moving four and a half minutes ago. Naruto had pulled into an underground parking garage three blocks away and was casually making his way toward the location when the hairs on the back of his neck started to lift.

To the casual observer, Naruto looked like any other officer patrolling his beat. But an astute observer would note the absolute silence of his movements and the fluid, coiled strength of his stride. He didn't reach for his weapon, unsure if anyone were monitoring. He approached the location where the tracker indicated Sasuke would be, but he didn't see him. There was only the faintest trace of Sasuke's scent, meaning he was likely inside one of the buildings.

The broken lock on the door of the building across the street from him narrowed down his guesses immediately, and Naruto quickly slipped inside, eyes bleeding red as he scanned the reception area of what appeared to be some sort of office building, though the occupants of it were evidently not yet arrived for the day. The security cameras had already been disabled, judging by the wires dangling uselessly from them.

A quick scan of the three bodies strewn about the floor with their necks at unnatural angles told him Sasuke had already passed through here, and any element of surprise had failed. But the fact that the men carried almost no scent at all had Naruto frowning. He breathed in, detecting the slightest chemical scent clinging to them. They were wearing blockers, specially designed to conceal their presence against G-mods. Which meant that - whoever sent them - knew Naruto was keeping tabs on Sasuke.

He would think about that later. For now, he needed to find Sasuke. Luckily - now that he was inside - the cold, dangerous scent of Sasuke was easy to follow. So were the sounds of gunshots. Naruto sprinted silently down the corridor, jumping out of the way as a body hit the ground inches in front of him, a bullet hole in the middle of the man's head. Naruto looked up in time to see Sasuke standing on the mezzanine above him, extending his arm in a smooth arc and firing three shots in rapid succession.

Naruto didn't even need to look to know that three bodies had hit the ground as a result. Sasuke wouldn't miss. Naruto grinned at the ruthless, emotionless look on Sasuke's face as he turned and fired off another two shots. His worry had fully receded as he saw Sasuke in full control of the situation. Naruto calmly walked up the short set of stairs so he could have a better view as Sasuke turned at the end of the hall, grabbing the final assailant by his wrist to immobilize his weapon before reaching up and snapping his neck rather than wasting another bullet.

Naruto leaned casually against the wall, crossing his legs at the ankles as Sasuke gave the area one final scan, then lowered his weapon. He turned and shot an annoyed look at Naruto.

"Thanks for the help," he said sarcastically.

Naruto shrugged, a lopsided grin on his face as he levered himself away from the wall. "Nah. You had it covered. I decided it would be more fun to just watch."

Sasuke lifted a brow, but his scent turned smug. "Nothing new there."

Naruto felt his cheeks heat. "Whatever." He looked around. The body count looked to be around ten to twelve, but with nowhere near the planning of the first attack. This looked almost amateur. The attackers had evidently let Sasuke take out their only advantage, which would have been shooting him from the mezzanine when he entered the building, then appeared to have scattered into the various offices rather than taking him out in a show of coordinated force.

"This looked… dumb. You sure this was the same guys, or do you just piss a lot of people off and make them all want to kill you?" Naruto asked, his brow creasing.

"Tch," Sasuke released the cartridge on his weapon to check his remaining ammunition, then slid the clip back home with a click. "My guess is that this wasn't sanctioned." He looked down at the nearest set of bodies, his expression almost bored. "But it shows that whoever is behind this is losing control. Someone wanted to take me out and reduce their liability."

"Hm," Naruto hummed. "Maybe they figured you'd be easier to hit with Itachi gone?"

Cold amusement gleamed in Sasuke's dark eyes. "They didn't do their homework."

"They used scent blockers, though. But, uh… I guess they don't get partial credit for this one. So, what now?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto for a moment, then picked up his communications device. He punched in some sort of code, then brought it to his ear, speaking to someone on the other end. "Uchiha reporting in from Sector 5. There was a second assassination attempt. I am informing you that I have taken one of the assailants alive, and will be bringing him to one of the safe houses for interrogation. Given the nature of this operation, I will not be relaying the safehouse location on the comms system. I'm disabling my gps. I will report in post-interrogation to debrief." Sasuke ended the call.

Naruto looked around the room at the collection of undeniably dead bodies as Sasuke ended the call. "Um… I'm not an interrogation expert or anything, but don't think you're going to get much outta any of these guys, Sasuke."

Sasuke reached down and pulled the uniform jacket off one of the dead men, throwing it at Naruto. "Put this on. You're going to be my prisoner."

Naruto's eyes widened as he easily caught the jacket. "What?"

Sasuke pulled off the cap the dead man had been wearing, tossing it to Naruto. He had been the only one not wearing a standard police helmet, and evidently Sasuke had decided he would make the best fake prisoner as the likely leader. He also happened to have blond hair, though not quite as light as Naruto's. The cap also covered more of Naruto's face, since it had a brim, which would help confuse whoever was watching from the satellite feeds. Sasuke tossed the cap to Naruto.

"This wasn't well-planned. Which means that whoever is behind can't be certain about anything right now. Whether it's trace physical evidence or a memory that wasn't properly erased, there could be loose ends."

"Ok, but…," Naruto removed his jacket and pulled on the one Sasuke had thrown at him. "... why didn't you just take one of them for questioning for real? Maybe they actually _did_ know something."

Sasuke took Naruto's police jacket and walked over to the dead man whose jacket he'd removed, crouching back down as he looked at the body with impatience.

"I'm not wasting my time with someone this low down the food chain. There's only a small chance that they actually know anything interesting to me. There's a much _greater_ chance that the person who set up the initial attack will act to tie up loose ends that could lead back to them."

Naruto watched as Sasuke put Naruto's jacket and helmet on the man he'd stripped.

"You really think they'll buy that this guy is me?" Naruto asked skeptically.

Sasuke pulled out his gun, pressing the barrel to the back of Naruto's head. "Hopefully just long enough for someone to fuck up and for me to kill them.  They can't afford to wait."

Naruto rolled his eyes, as they walked out to the street to where Sasuke's motorcycle was parked. Naruto looked over his shoulder at Sasuke, though he was careful to keep his face hidden from the cameras. "How is this gonna work, exactly?"

Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the shoulder, pushing him onto the bike. "You drive. I keep this gun pointed at your head."

"You got the safety on?"

Sasuke chuckled softly, and Naruto felt his skin ripple with goosebumps at the sound. "Don't hit any bumps."

"You're an asshole," Naruto muttered, glad he had watched Sasuke long enough that he was 100% sure that the man wouldn't shoot him on accident. Of course, on _purpose_ was an entirely different matter.

"Just drive. We'll park under the North Street Bridge and lose any surveillance in the tunnels."

"Then what?" Naruto asked, starting the engine.

"Wait for someone to get nervous and make a call they shouldn't."

Naruto focused on ignoring the feel of Sasuke's body against his, and focused on avoiding the pot holes. The next time he got obsessed with someone's scent, he would make sure they weren't a sociopath before he acted on it.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	7. Plots and plans

**A/N:** Thank you to Niomalia and Tandy_Hard for beta'ing this chapter for me.  Love you ladies!!

 **Warnings** : Graphic depictions of bullet removal without proper medical equipment. Oral sex. Fantasies of snowballing. Cum play. Masturbation. Pining.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Naruto focused on avoiding cars as they sped down the city streets, conscious of the feel of Sasuke's gun pressed against the back of his head while the satellites watched them from above. He could feel the occasional set of eyes follow them, but as soon as they caught sight of the insignia on Sasuke's uniform, they snapped their eyes away and didn't interfere. Naruto could smell the fear they had of Sasuke, the acknowledgement of the man's power. He would have grinned, but the satellites were watching.

Naruto swerved to avoid a pothole in the road, reminding himself to keep his attention on the task at hand. He was glad that Sasuke had decided to sit behind him, the wind from their speed carrying away most of Sasuke's distracting scent. It was bad enough that Naruto could feel the hard heat of Sasuke's torso behind him. He'd rather arrive at their destination with his head still attached to his shoulders.

They arrived at an overpass, and Sasuke directed Naruto to park the bike beneath it, out of view from the satellites.

"Down there." Sasuke jerked his gun in the direction of a large grate in the wall of the bridge. It was easy for Naruto to break the lock and pull it open, revealing a service entry to the storm drain tunnels below the city. They walked down, pulling the grate closed behind them.

"Do you know where we're going?" Naruto asked, looking at the six tunnels that branched out around them.

Sasuke slanted him an annoyed look. "I wouldn't have brought us here if I didn't. We're far enough down that any tracking device that they placed on me or my communicator will be useless. And the satellites and street cameras won't be able to pick us up."

Sasuke began walking purposefully down the third tunnel on the right. Naruto jogged to catch up, removing the dead man's uniform hat he'd been wearing, but keeping it in hand, just in case.

"Ok. So then… where are we headed?" Naruto asked.

"Safehouse," Sasuke replied tersely.

Naruto looked over at him. "Um… wouldn't that sort of defeat the purpose of us trying to lose them in the tunnels? I'm guessing that they're all monitored."

Sasuke smirked. "I _want_ them to find us. This was just to narrow down the list of people who _can_."

Naruto's mind raced. "Ok. So… if someone comes and tries to take us out, they can't say that it was an enemy satellite or something that led them to us."

"Only three people have access to the safe house video feeds."

"What if it's someone else?"

Sasuke turned down a smaller tunnel. It had rained two days ago, and their boots splashed in the muddy water as they continued. Naruto wrinkled his nose at the scent of mildew and oil that filled the tunnels.

"Of the people who had authority to redirect the city cameras and satellites without needing clearance, only two of them would have had access to my orders today since they tightened security. Only one of them has access to the safe house video feeds."

"So… if someone comes or doesn't, you'll know which one is behind it."

"Exactly." Sasuke stopped walking, looking up at where there was a smaller grate overhead.

He straightened his arm, pointing his gun and firing off four shots in rapid succession. Four broken bolts splashed into the muddy water beneath the grate. He turned to face Naruto while holstering his weapon.

"This grate opens up in the alley around the corner from one of the safe houses. The access isn't visible from the satellites or street cameras. Can you jump from here?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto looked up to the top of the fifteen-foot-high tunnel where the grate was now unsecured above them and shoved his hat back on. He didn't bother to reply, jumping up with his hands stretched out, easily shoving the grate to the side then landing with a splash back down in the tunnel. Sasuke glanced down at where the dirty water had splattered up on his black boots and uniform slacks.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Like you weren't already full of blood. You want a lift, or should I go out first then pull you up?"

Sasuke took a few steps back, and Naruto didn't need to guess what he was planning as he sprinted straight towards Naruto. Naruto had just enough time to crouch down and lock his hands to make a foothold for Sasuke before Sasuke's black boot was placed in it and Naruto was lifting him up as he jumped. Sasuke's gloved hands caught the edge of the opening with ease before he nimbly pulled himself up and into the alley.

"You're welcome," Naruto muttered, drawing a breath before jumping up again, shoving the grate back into place and following Sasuke out of the tunnels and into the alley.

* * *

Sasuke was sticking to the shadows as he headed toward a side entrance to what looked to be a low rent apartment building. The alley was narrow, and clothes lines crisscrossed the cramped space, providing cover from surveillance. Naruto was sure that Sasuke had chosen both this location and this approach with full knowledge of that fact.

Naruto felt the hair on the back of his neck prickle, and closed the distance between himself and Sasuke, his senses on high alert as he scanned the area. Something wasn't right. Sasuke was just opening the door when Naruto caught a faint trace of something in the air. Sasuke was stepping through the door when Naruto sprung forward, his body slamming Sasuke's to the ground, rolling him out of the open doorway as the sharp sound of bullets ricocheting of the cement entryway filled the room.

Naruto felt a burning pain in his shoulder but there wasn't time to worry about it. Sasuke was already shoving him off and drawing his gun and firing.

"Fuck!" Sasuke crouched low, his eyes spinning red as he took cover in the doorway and returned fire.

Naruto took a moment to try to get his bearings. The cover that had protected them from being seen as they approached the safehouse was now shielding their attackers.

"I got three," Sasuke murmured, not taking his eyes from scanning their surroundings. "How did you know?"

"Smelled a trace of the scent suppressors," Naruto replied. "Same as what the guys in the office building had used." The pain in his shoulder was worse, and he didn't need to feel the warm wetness sliding down his chest to know he'd been shot. The dark fabric of his uniform would prevent the wound from being too obvious. The bullet must have come from a ricochet because it hadn't gone all the way through, which was going to be a bitch because that meant he'd have to dig it out later.

The sound of more gunshots reminded him that he had other things to worry about.

Naruto looked around the entryway, noticing a window on the back wall, closer to the storm grate they'd climbed out of. There was no longer any need for stealth, since they'd already been found. He stood, tugging the sleeve of his 'borrowed' uniform jacket to cover his fist as he jogged over to the window. Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, he punched the window dead center, smashing it, then cleared the broken glass with his covered arm.

The sound of metal rolling along the cement floor increased the sense of urgency as someone had evidently been close enough to send in a grenade.

"Go!" Sasuke shouted already at a dead sprint towards where Naruto was jumping through the window. Sasuke immediately following as the grenade detonated.

"They'll have to check the rubble to see if they got us," Sasuke said quietly, where they were both crouched in the shadows. They waited a minute as the sound of shouts and booted feet running toward the building surged then faded.

Sasuke pointed silently to the area where the grate they had come through was. Naruto nodded sharply, then followed Sasuke back down into the dark passages below the city.

* * *

They moved quickly and quietly through the tunnels. They both knew that there was a decent chance that someone would discover the grate with the bolts shot out of it and figure out where they had disappeared to.

Naruto grit his teeth at the throbbing in his shoulder. He would need to dig the bullet out before the flesh wound started to close over, or it would need to be cut open again. He figured he had about an hour before that happened.

Sasuke suddenly stopped and was looking at Naruto with narrowed eyes. "You're injured."

Naruto blinked. "Yeah. But it's fine. I can keep up."

Sasuke walked toward him, his eyes, scanning over Naruto's body, finding the small hole in his jacket despite the almost nonexistent light in the tunnel. "How much blood have you lost?"

Naruto shrugged, then winced at the movement. "Enough, but so far my clothes soaked up most of it. I don't think I'm leaving a trail, if that's what you're worried about."

"Tch," Sasuke looked annoyed, then turned to look at a set of tunnels that branched out ahead. "We have about twenty blocks to go before we get to the warehouse."

Naruto nodded. "I'm good."

Sasuke looked at him for a moment, then seemed to take him at his word, turning and jogging down the tunnel on their left.

* * *

Naruto's hands were clammy with cold sweat when they finally made it to the warehouse. He walked directly to the room he had found earlier that must have been some sort of break room back when the factory was working. It had a sink that Naruto had checked earlier and found it actually had running water. The bathrooms were not in a state that he wanted to think about, especially not with an open wound. There wasn't any soap or antiseptic, but his immune system could handle a pretty big hit before failing him.

Sasuke did an interior perimeter sweep while Naruto peeled off his blood-soaked jacket and shirt. The wound was small and the bleeding had slowed considerably, but it was still an angry red. The skin around the hole already bruised a deep purple-blue. There was no electricity in the building, so Naruto had to make do with the low amount of light that filtered through the grimy windows. He couldn't see the bullet, but he hadn't really expected to be able to. He was going to have to dig for it, and it was going to suck. But first he needed wash the wound off and find something reasonably clean to dig the bullet out.

He turned the water on, watching it sputter and run brownish-red before finally turning clear. He was feeling slightly light-headed from blood loss, but he knew it would be fine by morning. His body had more than five times the blood regeneration rate of a normal human. As long as he drank a lot of water before he passed out, it should be fine.

He leaned forward, sticking his shoulder as much under the direct flow of the water as he could, hissing at the burn, but knowing he needed to get as much of the dirt and dried blood from the wound area as possible.

"Building's clear." Sasuke's voice from behind Naruto made him flinch. Even with the water running, Naruto should have been able to hear him coming or at least pick up on his scent. Evidently he had lost more blood than he realized. "There are no cameras inside. The south windows are in range of a street camera, so we need to stay clear of those."

"Sounds good." Naruto returned to washing his shoulder. He wished there was a mirror over the sink so he could see Sasuke. It made him nervous to be wounded and have the man behind him when he wasn't a hundred percent sure what Sasuke's end game was.

He looked over his shoulder, noticing the way Sasuke's eyes scanned over the bared skin of Naruto's back.

"It didn't go through?" Sasuke asked, pulling off his gloves and pocketing them.

"No."

Naruto stood, turning to face him as Sasuke gripped Naruto by his uninjured shoulder with one hand, the fingertips of the other sliding over the unmarked skin near the bullet hole in Naruto's shoulder.

"We need to get the bullet out and sterilize the wound."

"Yeah, no shit," Naruto grumbled. He was tired and lightheaded and his shoulder fucking _hurt._ "I'm not as worried about the sterilization part, though. 'Designer immune system' and all that."

Sasuke gave a soft snort, but immediately started searching the drawers and cabinets of the small kitchen area for something they could use. Naruto leaned against the counter, knowing he should help but not really wanting to move much at the moment. He felt a low buzzing in his pocket, and was surprised to see the communications device Sasuke had given him light up with a message.

"Fuck! Our comms' signals aren't blocked here. We have to get back into the tunnels!" Naruto fumbled with the device, looking for a way to remove the power source to try to shut off any electronic tracking ability.

"No. It's Itachi," Sasuke grabbed the device, scanning the message before rapidly punching out a return message. "He's been monitoring their communications. Their current guess is that you died in the blast and I escaped the city to meet up with him."

Naruto blinked. "Why is he contacting me and not you?"

"I left my device in the building when they threw the grenade. I didn't want them to be able to track me with it. He saw the signal cut out, so he knew it was dead. Itachi is the only other person who knows about this device or has the code to activate it or track it. It's not linked to the government's comm system satellites. It's totally untraceable."

Naruto breathed out a tired sigh. "Ok, so… now what?"

Sasuke's jaw tightened. "They must have sent people to each of the safe houses. There are only twelve, so it wasn't hard to cover them all. I didn't think they would have been able to get there in time. Fuck!"

Naruto was too tired to really follow it all, but he just nodded. He levered himself away from the counter and walked down the short corridor to a room that he remembered held some tools for the old factory. A long, thin blade would be ideal, but he didn't know if he'd get lucky. Most of the tools were too large, but he finally found a set of small screwdrivers that must have been used for removing the exterior cases of some of the electronics equipment. Not looking forward to what was going to come next, he turned to find Sasuke walking down the hall towards him.

Naruto held up the small screwdriver. "This'll have to do."

"Better than the rusty teaspoon I found," Sasuke said drily. Naruto tried not to think too hard about the mental image that evoked. Sasuke held up a brown paper bag. "But I found disinfectant."

Naruto grabbed the bag from Sasuke's hand, looking inside of it to find a bottle of cheap but extremely potent alcohol.

"Probably from a squatter that got evicted before he had a chance to drink it," Sasuke shrugged. "The light's better here." He turned and walked to the west side of the building where the early afternoon light was streaming through the large, dirty windows. There would be no way that their movements were visible from the outside, even if a drone flew right past them, but they didn't get too close to the windows in any case. Sasuke had evidently taken two of the few unbroken chairs from the break room and set them facing each other.

"Sit," Sasuke ordered.

Naruto shot him a glare. "I might have animal DNA in me, but I'm not your fucking pet."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "We need to get the bullet out before you lose any more blood. Now. _Sit_."

Naruto gave a slight smirk at the steel in Sasuke's tone. Normally, he would be panicking at being in a weakened state when he knew there were people out hunting for him, but Sasuke was strong enough to handle them if they came before Naruto was recovered. It was a strange feeling. He wasn't used to relying on anyone to have his back.

"What?" Sasuke asked, noticing Naruto's smirk.

Naruto just hummed noncommittally and sat down in the chair. He drew a steadying breath as he opened the bottle of alcohol and poured some over the screwdriver to clean it. It was annoying that his right shoulder was the one with the bullet in it, because that meant he was going to have to dig it out with his left hand. He set the bottle down, shifting the screwdriver to his left hand and bringing it up to the wound.

Sasuke's pale fingers wrapped harshly around his wrist, stopping him. "What the fuck are you doing?"

Naruto looked up at him, frowning in confusion. "Uh... taking the bullet out of my shoulder? What does it look like?"

Sasuke huffed, grabbing the screwdriver from Naruto's hands and sitting down in the chair next to him. "Idiot."

Naruto looked at Sasuke in surprise, but he had to admit it would be less likely to do more damage to the muscles in his shoulder if someone else dug it out. Sasuke leaned forward, his gaze focused on the small hole in Naruto's flesh. He looked up briefly to give Naruto a firm look.

"Don't move." Sasuke's voice was emotionless, and his scent equally devoid of anything. It somehow calmed Naruto. He met Sasuke's gaze for a moment, and held it. Sasuke wasn't asking for permission, but he was giving Naruto time to object. Naruto wasn't quite sure why he trusted Sasuke to let him do this, but he simply nodded, bracing himself for what was going to come. He had a high pain tolerance, but this was gonna hurt.

Naruto grunted as Sasuke placed one hand on the side of the wound, then slowly pushed the screwdriver in. The pain was unbelievable, and Naruto clenched his teeth to at least partially muffle the roar of pain he let out. His fingers gripped the edge of the chair so hard that he heard the wood crack, but he held still, not flinching away from Sasuke's ministrations even though every reflex was demanding him to. Naruto couldn't tell if he heard the click when the screwdriver struck the bullet or if he felt it, but either way, he was glad Sasuke had been able to find it so efficiently.

"I found the bullet." Sasuke's focus was absolute, his fingers deft and precise in their work. There was no hesitation or shaking hands, which Naruto was immensely grateful for as all that would have done was prolong the torture. Naruto tried to focus on Sasuke's scent, calm and cold and sure, totally at odds with the sharp-edged pain and trauma of his own scent.

It was less than a minute before Naruto felt a horrible pressure and suction in his arm and then the bullet was bouncing on the dirty floor of the warehouse. Naruto was shaking and drenched in sweat, and for a moment his stomach roiled and he thought he might throw up.

"Lay down." Sasuke ordered tersely. "The bullet is in one piece, which means I don't have to dig for more fragments."

"Thank fucking god," Naruto murmured as he slid off the chair and slumped against it on the floor. He closed his eyes, focusing on breathing in and breathing out. The coppery scent of his own blood mingled with Sasuke's scent. Naruto concentrated on Sasuke's scent, letting it calm him as he tried to steady his pulse so he didn't lose even more blood. He was close to passing out, which was dangerous given they were being hunted by powerful enemies. It was lucky that only one of them was injured. Sasuke was unshaken and in control. Naruto listened to the sound of Sasuke walking over to the sink, presumably to clean the blood off his hands.

He heard Sasuke unzipping something, and blinked up to see that Sasuke had found the pack Naruto had stored in the warehouse earlier in case he'd had to run. There were two blankets, a pillow, and a few changes of dark clothing. Sasuke spread one blanked on the ground then tossed the pillow down on it.

"I'm going to use the alcohol to disinfect the wound. If you pass out, try to do it on the blanket."

Naruto rolled his eyes, but eyed the bottle of alcohol warily. It would help him heal faster if they did this, but it was not going to be fun.

Sasuke took the shirt Naruto had been wearing and poured some of the alcohol on a relatively clean section of it. He crouched down in front of Naruto, then began wiping around the outside of the wound, cleansing away the blood.

"Why did you wait so long to break out? It's clear from the reports that it wasn't difficult for you."

Naruto wasn't sure if Sasuke was talking to him to keep him awake or to distract him from what was coming, but he answered either way. "Hm. I guess I never had a reason to escape before. They told me I was dangerous, that I would kill any civilians I came in contact with. It seemed better for me to just stay where I was."

Sasuke arched a brow as he wiped along the edge of the wound. "You seem to have plenty of control to me."

Naruto flinched at the burn, but allowed it. "Maybe? I don't know. I guess I haven't really been pushed though. They designed me. They'd know best what I was capable of and what my weaknesses were."

The statement seemed to annoy Sasuke, and he pulled the cloth back to glare at Naruto. "Don't be naive. Did it ever occur to you that they _told_ you those things just so they could control you? It was clear they couldn't keep you there by force. They had to find another way."

Naruto's eyes widened, but he wasn't sure he could believe what Sasuke was telling him.

"Tch. No wonder they were able to keep you there so long. _Think_ , Naruto. You've been out for over a month. You've been hunted, shot at, and nearly blown up. What more _stress_ do you think you'd need to trigger whatever it is they told you would happen?"

"I…" Naruto hadn't really thought about it. But Sasuke was right. Naruto had been under a fuck ton of 'stressors' and he hadn't had any issues. Sasuke chose that moment to pour alcohol directly into the bullet hole. " _Fuck_!" Naruto roared, the sound a mix of anger and pain.

Sasuke pressed him back against the chair, keeping the steady flow of burning alcohol into the wound until it ran clear of blood and debris, pooling on the wooden floor. When he was satisfied, he grabbed one of the clean shirts that Naruto had packed, ripping it into pieces and using it to bind the wound and slow any further bleeding. Naruto shifted over to the makeshift bed and sagged back against the clean blanket and pillow in relief, the room spinning.

"Drink?" Sasuke offered the bottle to Naruto.

The thought of anything hitting his stomach made Naruto cringe.

He could hear the sound of Sasuke taking a drink, then Sasuke was standing and walking over to wash up.

Naruto thought about what Sasuke had said earlier, and the surge of anger distracted him from the throbbing pain in his shoulder.

"Those _assholes_! I spent years thinking… and they didn't let anyone visit me! Even when I was on the battlefield, they kept me visored and didn't let any of the soldiers in the squadron I was with talk to me. Like I was some sort of lunatic," Naruto spat out

"Maybe they didn't want them to see your face," Sasuke said evenly as he walked back, sitting back on the floor next to where Naruto was resting. He handed Naruto a canteen of water.

Even through the haze of pain and shock, Naruto could detect something in Sasuke's voice that he knew he had to pay attention to. "What? What about my face?"

Sasuke sat down, leaning against a wooden crate next to Naruto's blanked and pulled out a cigarette. "You asked me why I wanted to see you in your cell."

"Yeah. Yeah, you never answered me, either."

Sasuke lit the cigarette, watching the small glow of the tip with interest. "Your medical records were very thorough. They had everything about you all written up. Your daily heart rate fluctuations, what you ate, how many times you pissed, which females they tried to get you to fuck. But do you know what they didn't have?"

Naruto just looked at Sasuke, not sure where this was going, but almost holding his breath.

Sasuke took a drag on the cigarette, glaring at it in distaste. Naruto had only seen Sasuke light a cigarette when he needed a source of fire, usually when he was about to blow something up.

"Your photo. The only pictures they had of you were in full uniform, with your face covered, or ones of you as a child." Sasuke looked over at Naruto. "Any guesses as to why?"

Naruto just looked at him for a moment, his brain still slow from the shock and pain of the bullet and blood loss. He mutely shook his head, forcing himself to drink the water despite his roiling stomach. Sasuke dug in his pocket, pulling out a small plastic card. He flicked it over to Naruto. Naruto picked it up and looked at it. On it was a man who looked to be a few years older than Naruto. Other than slightly longer hair, the man could almost be Naruto's twin.

"Who is this?" Naruto asked, his fingers white-knuckled in their grip of the picture.

"Minato Namikaze."

"Namikaze… isn't that…" Naruto's brown furrowed as he tried to remember when he'd heard the name.

"One of the bloodline families that was killed off. Minato was married to Kushina Uzumaki. Rumor has it, she was pregnant when she disappeared."

Naruto slowly began to shake his head, his eyes glued to the picture.

"Minato wouldn't let it rest. He started looking into it. Until he ended up dead in a military 'accident'."

Naruto wasn't an idiot. The implication of Sasuke's words was clear. "My friend had said that… any of us who had families who objected to us being in the program… the families were killed."

Sasuke leaned back, exhaling a thin stream of smoke.

Another thought struck Naruto. "Uzumaki. That was another one of the bloodlines." Naruto looked over to Sasuke for confirmation.

Sasuke's eyes drifted closed, his lips twisted in a bitter smile as he nodded. "They were a very popular couple back then, I've been told. The citizens loved them, and they were both high up in the military. They were constantly in the news. On TV."

"So all the older people would recognize me. That's why…," Naruto felt the anger surging back up again, temporarily pushing back on the exhaustion that was weighing his body down like bags of sand.

"Exactly. I have the highest security clearance possible, but it took me _months_ to get access to you. They want to keep you hidden. Itachi had been able to see your face through the visor when he took you down, but it had still been somewhat obscured. He was suspicious. But they wouldn't let him in, on the grounds that it might 'set you off' to meet with a former adversary."

"So you came, to see if it was true."

Sasuke gave a short nod. "They ran out of excuses to keep me out without drawing even more attention. Since I was only a few months old when your parents died, they figured it was worth the risk to let me in."

Naruto's hands fisted. All that time, they'd told him he had to be locked away because he was an animal. In reality, it had just been to hide his identity so they could stay in power.

"They want you, but only if they can control you," Sasuke continued, his eyes drifting to Naruto's clenched hands, but his scent not reacting at all. He did not fear Naruto, despite knowing what his fists were capable of. "If you came out in support of the administration, with your face and your power, they would be unstoppable. They had already convinced everyone that you were too dangerous to be allowed out of the facility, so they didn't have to worry about people demanding you take a role in government. I wanted to see if you were really on their side."

Realization hit Naruto with a crushing force. "That's why they turned the unit against me. Not because… not because I was _actually_ dangerous to my own people. But because…"

"Because they wanted to make it _look_ like you were. Itachi didn't know at the time. The orders were given, and they had a bunch of medical records they'd faked to make it seem like a critical threat."

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut. So much of what he'd been told about himself, so much of what he thought he knew to be fact, had just been ripped to shreds. Yes, he was still a weapon, capable of killing with brutal strength and skill. But he wasn't an _insane_ one. He could leave this place. He could get out and have an actual life and not worry about destroying it all on accident.

"If it makes you feel any better, you can only imagine how they must have shit themselves when you escaped not long after my visit." Sasuke crushed the half-smoked cigarette out, a cynical twist to his lips. "They were so close to success. Now you're out, seeming to be aligned with Itachi and me."

Naruto huffed out a small laugh, the brief spike of adrenaline that his anger had afforded him finally giving way to his fatigue and his body's need to rest and heal. He closed his eyes briefly, not able to deal with the new shift in his reality yet. "Yeah. Especially if they'd already been planning on taking you out as the last remaining threat to their power base."

"The timing was… oddly coincidental, yes." Sasuke eyed Naruto with a calculating look. "You never answered my question on that. Why didn't you break out a long time ago? You clearly had the ability to." Sasuke didn't say it, but there was no doubt he understood _exactly_ what Naruto had wanted to do with the hooker he'd asked Sasuke to fuck without a condom. Sasuke's scent had shifted to something darker, almost possessive. Naruto felt his own possessiveness surge in response. He'd broken out because Sasuke should be _his_. The answer came sharp and hard in his mind, but he knew better than to say it out loud. Whatever Naruto might want, Sasuke had no interest in him that way. Sasuke fucked female hookers, and that's all.

Naruto felt his face heat, and he looked off to the side of the room. "I just… was curious about you. Wanted to see who you were." Naruto didn't explain _exactly_ what he wanted to learn about Sasuke, but it was clear from the arrogant scent wafting from him that Sasuke had already figured most of it out.

"Why?" Sasuke pushed.

Naruto glared at him, but he was too exhausted to do much else. A wave of dizziness from the blood loss hit him, and he closed his eyes, breathing slowly to try to steady himself. The now-familiar scent of Sasuke relaxed him, which didn't make any sense except it _did_. "You're not weak. There's no challenge in fighting or mating with someone who fears you. No attraction."

"Hm." Sasuke's voice had shifted, but Naruto was too tired to open his eyes and look at him to see if something was off. His scent had shifted slightly, too, but Naruto couldn't concentrate enough on it.

"Though I guess some guys like something soft, like the girls you hire. I just think it would be boring. Having to be careful not to break them. Always holding back. Sucks." Naruto's words faded and slurred together as he spoke, exhaustion finally winning out.

Naruto's breathing evened out as he slept. He didn't see the considering look on Sasuke's face, nor the way Sasuke's eyes drifted along Naruto's now sleeping form.

* * *

Naruto noticed two things when he awoke. The first was that he could smell Sasuke's annoyance, razor-sharp and cold. The second was that the scent of the man had made him painfully hard in his restrictive pants while he was sleeping.

Naruto opened his eyes, levering himself up on one elbow. The room was mostly dark, with only the faint illumination from the streetlights filtering in through the dirty windows. Sasuke was sitting in one of the chairs, holding Naruto's communications device and glaring at it, the dull glow from the screen highlighting the perfectly angled structure of his face. He looked over at Naruto, his eyes flicking to the bandaged shoulder.

"You didn't get a fever. That should mean no infection."

Naruto was immensely grateful that the second blanket covered his lap at the moment to disguise the combined effect of Sasuke's voice and the fact that he was looking at Naruto's bare chest. The day before, Naruto's mind had been too hazed with pain to react much, but today was another matter entirely.

"How long was I out?" Naruto asked, his voice rough with sleep. He sat up, slowly rotating his shoulder and testing its mobility.

"Eighteen hours. And stop moving around. It looks like the bleeding is under control and I'd like to keep it that way."

Naruto grinned at the annoyed tone in Sasuke's voice. Whatever was pissing him off, it was kind of hot to see the elite officer cranky. Naruto pulled off the makeshift bandage and tossed it aside. "I thought you said you read my medical report?"

Sasuke's eyes swirled red as he shifted forward, crouching down to have a closer look at the smooth, unmarked skin of Naruto's shoulder. It was as though the bullet had never touched him.

"I thought Orochimaru was just exaggerating," Sasuke murmured, running one pale finger along the unbroken surface where the bullet hole had been less than a day before.

Naruto couldn't help the low growl that sounded in his throat at the intimate touch, and he was grateful that Sasuke misread it as a warning and removed his hand. Naruto's stomach chose that moment to grumble in protest to going eighteen hours without eating, giving him a needed distraction.

"There are food rations in the kitchen." Sasuke shifted back to sit on the chair, looking down at Naruto's comms device as though nothing had happened. Naruto could smell wariness and frustration on Sasuke. He assumed the wariness was from Naruto's growling at him, and the frustration from whatever had been pissing him off while Naruto was asleep.

He was glad Sasuke's attention was elsewhere as he stood and walked to the kitchen, noticing the neat pack of the dried, tasteless military rations. The pried up floorboard in the corner of the room answered the question of where they had come from. Evidently, Naruto wasn't the only one who had stored things here in case they needed to hide out.

"What are you pissed off about?" Naruto called out from the kitchen. Silence greeted his question. "Look, I could smell your annoyance in my sleep and you're staring at that phone like you want to light it on fire. What's up?"

Naruto grabbed two of the ration packs and walked back out to the main room, opening one foil packet and grimacing slightly at the stale, dry scent before eating it. His body needed nutrients, and these were designed to provide them. It didn't have to taste good.

Sasuke looked over as Naruto approached, his body tense. "Itachi says we need to stay here for at least another day. He's trying to track down more information to narrow down which person we need to go after."

Naruto swallowed the dry food, wishing he had brought some water with him to wash it down. "So? We have food. Water. We can wait."

He could see the muscle in Sasuke's jaw tense. "I don't like waiting. They're still trying to figure out if you're dead or not, but they are getting suspicious now that they've cleared most of the rubble and didn't find a body. They're focusing the search at the borders, assuming we're heading out of the city. They're looking in the wrong direction. It's the perfect time to make a move."

Naruto frowned. "So… why don't we?" He tested his shoulder one more time as he sat down on the other chair. "I'm pretty much good to go. You look like you could use some sleep, but -"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him. "Someone had to keep watch."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I got fucking _shot_ saving your ass. You can lose a few hours of sleep on guard duty. But I can take next shift. You sleep, then we move."

Sasuke stilled, seeming to quickly go through the likely scenarios he'd been reviewing in his head. Finally he spoke. "Itachi wants us to wait until he's back in the city. Which won't be until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest."

Naruto could practically _taste_ the tightly coiled need to act within Sasuke. From the short time he had been following the man, he had already learned that Sasuke was someone who didn't pull his punches or hesitate. Being told to hold off was clearly going against his every instinct, but he was going to do it. Naruto had the strong sense that Itachi was probably the only person who could order Sasuke to wait with any chance of that order being obeyed. Naruto looked over at the still-half-full bottle of alcohol, and grabbed it, handing it over to Sasuke. "So then we wait. And hit them full force tomorrow."

Sasuke glared at the bottle, but finally grabbed it and took a swig, grimacing slightly at the raw burn of the cheap liquor. Naruto tipped his head in the direction of the blankets. "I didn't get any blood on them. Sleep. I'll take watch."

Sasuke set the bottle down and leaned forward on the chair to remove his boots before shifting over to the thin bed, but his body was still rigid with wariness and tension. He might be tired, but it didn't look like he was going to fall asleep any time soon.

Naruto looked out at the nearby windows, but they were too grimy to see through. "Any patrols come by the area while I was out?"

"No. It's been quiet. They're watching the checkpoints at the borders. And searching the tunnels."

Naruto nodded. "Makes sense. That's where most people would run."

Sasuke took another drink from the bottle. "What about you?"

Naruto raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

Sasuke shrugged. "You must have had some sort of plan when you broke out. They're going to keep hunting you if you stay in the city."

Sasuke offered Naruto the bottle. Naruto looked at it a moment, then shrugged and took it. His system metabolized alcohol pretty quickly, so Naruto could handle a drink or two and still keep watch. He took a swig, sucking air in through his teeth at the way the alcohol cut like battery acid in the back of his throat. He was more than happy to hand it back to Sasuke.

"Nah. I didn't really think about it. Figured I'd just… make it up as I went along or whatever."

"Idiot," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes as he took another stiff drink. Naruto wondered how the man had a throat left, but he didn't seem particularly affected. "I can't believe they haven't caught you yet."

Naruto gave him a feral grin. "Even if they found me, they'd have to be able to hold me."

"Hn." Sasuke eyed Naruto consideringly, a slight smirk acknowledging Naruto's statement. The sight of it made Naruto's skin tingle and blood heat, but he tried to suppress his response. It had been easier when he was watching Sasuke from a distance, not able to breathe in his scent or hear the low rumble of his voice.

Naruto needed to distract himself. "Are you going to stick around after you kill whoever you're gonna kill? Stay and try to like… take over the government or something?" Naruto realized that Sasuke's life wasn't much more certain than his own, if someone high up wanted him dead. If Sasuke assassinated one of their leaders, where would it put him? Naruto's experience with the government was that they didn't exactly give people the benefit of the doubt. You submitted to their rule, or you were taken out.

"Tch," Sasuke scoffed. "I have no interest in ruling. Itachi's the one who had thought about it, but even he probably wouldn't have the patience for it."

"So all this bullshit is for nothing? They're trying to take you out for some title you don't even _want_?"

Sasuke's lips twisted into a cynical smile. "There's only one way the can be _sure_ I'll never change my mind and challenge them."

Naruto just looked at him blankly. "But… they're supposed to be on your _side_!"

"Hn. Just like they were on yours."

Sasuke leaned back against the thin pillow, one arm behind his head as he looked at the ceiling. Naruto could sense the restless tension still rolling off him, and it was making Naruto restless as well. He wasn't sure if Sasuke had a really high tolerance for alcohol or if he was just too pissed off let it relax him much.

"So… you're just gonna just keep following orders? Even though you know they're back-stabbing assholes?"

Sasuke didn't reply, simply taking another drink from the bottle and glancing down at the dark, silent screen of his communications device.

Naruto watched him for a moment, then stood, unable to sit still. He ran his hand over the now-smooth skin where the bullet had been, glad to feel his strength returning. He trusted Sasuke that there hadn't been any signs of soldiers in the area, but he wanted to get his bearings on his own. There were things he could sense that Sasuke couldn't. He knew he had to stay away from the windows and doors, so he scanned the high walls and ceiling. The last thing they wanted to do was draw attention to activity in a supposedly abandoned building.

A large ventilation shaft from what used to be some sort of furnace arched high overhead. It would have to have rooftop access, and might provide enough cover for Naruto to safely scan the area. It would be cold in the night air on the roof when he was still only half dressed, but the duct was likely full of soot and Naruto didn't want to get his last clean shirt filthy.

"I'm gonna go check the roof." It wasn't really necessary, but Naruto had to move, had to get away from the scent of Sasuke that was slowly making him crazy.

"Stay out of sight," Sasuke warned, his voice terse.

Naruto rolled his eyes and gave Sasuke the finger as he headed over to the old machine. It was no problem for Naruto to quickly climb up over the twist of metal pipes and ducts to get to the main shaft. He gripped one of the large side pipes, twisting the thin metal loose to open up a hole just wide enough for him to squeeze through and make his way to the roof. The sharp burn of whatever chemical residue had built up over the years of the factory's operations made his nose itch and his eyes water, but he was grateful for the way it helped him clear his head.

The duct went all the way to the roof, the opening curved and screened off to prevent rain or animals from getting in, happily providing the perfect cover for Naruto to look around without being seen. He crouched, fully hidden in the dark opening, and listened for drone activity or motorcycles that would signal the army coming. When he could finally smell something other than the chemical smell from crawling up the duct, he drew a deep breath to see if there was anything out of place. The light wind carried no trace of explosives or weaponry, no scent of a soldier's body tensed and ready for battle.

Sasuke had been right… their hunters were looking in the wrong direction. He stayed on the rooftop for several minutes, the night air cold against his bare chest. Being in close quarters with Sasuke was making him stir crazy. He could smell him and practically _feel_ his body heat. In all the scenarios he'd had when he'd escaped, he never thought that he would actually be sitting around _talking_ with the elite officer. He had just wanted to watch him for a while, then make his escape.

The thought of leaving no longer felt freeing. He wanted to stay with Sasuke, watching him work… watching him sleep. Protect him from the people hunting him.

Naruto huffed out a breath, watching the white cloud of it disperse. He would have to leave. Soon. But he would finish off the people hunting them first. He just needed to stay focused on that.

He made his way back down the vent, feeling the grit and dirt beneath his fingers as he climbed down the smooth walls. He stepped out into the main room, looking down at the grime on his skin with a grimace.

"All clear. No one is watching the building," Naruto commented, the heavy soot smell from the vent still clogging his senses.

"Hn."

Sasuke was still laying on the blanket, but didn't look any closer to sleep then when Naruto had left to check out the roof. Naruto walked over to the sink, noticing that Sasuke must have found some old soap, probably in one of the storage rooms. He washed his head and torso as much as he could in the sink, wishing he could take a shower. He'd spent time in far worse conditions, though, so he wasn't going to worry too much about it. He didn't have a towel, so he just brushed as much water off as he could. The warehouse was unheated, and his skin pebbled with goosebumps. He turned to find Sasuke's eyes watching him in the darkness, the bottle of alcohol still in his hand.

There was a shift in Sasuke's scent that Naruto hadn't noticed over the smell of the ducts and soap when he was washing. Naruto paused as he drew in a deeper breath, his pupils dilating in response. There was no mistaking it.

Amidst the residual frustration and tension from earlier, there was a strong note of arousal.

The scent caused an almost instant chain reaction in Naruto's body, and his hand gripped the edge of the counter with a force that almost cracked it, his entire body going rigid, heat pumping through his blood. Naruto parted his lips slightly, his tongue running lightly over the back of this teeth as he tried to draw in more of the scent in. He'd sensed Sasuke's arousal in battle before, but there were many soldiers who got caught up in blood lust during a fight. There was no battle now. It didn't make sense.

Sasuke continued to watch Naruto, his attention unwavering. Without conscious thought, Naruto's hand slowly released the counter from its death-grip as he straightened up, fully facing Sasuke.

The silence stretched, but Sasuke seemed unconcerned as he simply arched a brow and took a drink from the bottle held loosely in his tapered fingers.

"So…," Naruto began, slowly walking towards Sasuke. The predator inside Naruto was fully alert now, pushing to the forefront of Naruto's consciousness. "You said that the government provided you with hookers twice a week. Any particular reason?"

Sasuke smirked, swirling the contents in the bottle leisurely, though his eyes remained laser-focused on Naruto. "After the war, the government took steps to help some of their top soldiers… re-assimilate into civilian life. Sex was considered a healthy form of stress relief and socialization."

A stray drop of cold water fell from Naruto's damp hair to his shoulder. Naruto was close enough to Sasuke to see how the man's eyes tracked the slow path of the water down over Naruto's pectoral, then over the washboard of his abs before disappearing, soaked up by the dark fabric of his pants.

The chill that Naruto had felt only moments ago seemed to have vanished. He struggled to process Sasuke's words, the majority of his concentration latched on the negligent grace of Sasuke's body where he lay on the blanket and the intensity of the black eyes locked on him.

"Stress from things like… being told you have to wait before slitting the throat of the man who tried to kill you." Naruto heard the words leaving his own mouth, knowing he was hinting at making an offer that Sasuke might end up shooting him for.

Not that Naruto cared overly much. It would be completely worth it.

He continued walking until he was standing directly in front of where Sasuke was lounging back on the blankets. Sasuke's dark eyes showed no confusion as to what Naruto was offering as Sasuke simply lifted the bottle to his lips, his eyes never leaving Naruto's face as he took a drink. His legs shifted slightly wider apart, and Naruto had no difficulty detecting the bulge of Sasuke's slowly hardening cock through his uniform pants.

Naruto felt a low growl building in his throat, his own cock standing to painful attention at the sight. Would Sasuke let him? Naruto had never considered this a possibility. Sasuke's sexual preferences were consistent. Weak, female, and temporary.

Naruto supposed he was at least one of those three, but definitely missed the mark on what were probably the most critical two of the set. But Sasuke was looking at him, his dark eyes challenging and fucking _daring_ Naruto to do something about it. Sasuke smelled aroused and on edge and Naruto was here and Sasuke was _taunting_ him _._

Sasuke smirked, his gaze dropping pointedly to where the rigid line of Naruto's erection was clearly visible through his clothes.

"You wanted me to fuck the hooker without a condom." Sasuke moved the bottle over to his crotch, sliding the smooth end of it along the now very prominent ridge of his arousal. "Did you suck my cum out of her?"

The vivid memory of the taste of Sasuke on his tongue as he'd moved between the woman's thighs had Naruto's already painfully hard dick leaking. He wondered how much better it would taste without another person's scent interfering. Diluting.

"Yes." Naruto's voice was a low growl. His eyes were latched to where Sasuke was slowly sliding the dark glass bottle along his shaft. His senses were flooded with the heavy scent of Sasuke's arousal. Dimly, he realized that if someone kicked in the door right now with an entire battalion, he might not even notice. It wouldn't matter. He would raze a hundred battalions if they stood between him and Sasuke.

"Do you want to be my 'stress relief', Naruto? Do you want to suck my dick?"

Naruto didn't hesitate to kneel down between Sasuke's ankles, not breaking eye contact with Sasuke as he slowly place his hands just below Sasuke's knees and slowly pushed his legs apart.

"Yeah."

"Then do it." Sasuke took a drink, his eyes dark and commanding as he looked at Naruto, resting back on his elbows.

Naruto didn't need to be told twice. It didn't matter that Sasuke was probably going to imagine it was one of the pretty women he'd fucked sucking him off. Naruto would take what Sasuke offered and clutch it greedily inside him when it was time to leave.

He leaned in, sliding his hands up along the insides of Sasuke's thighs, his eyes holding Sasuke's for a lingering moment before tracing over the hard lines of Sasuke's body. Sasuke still held the bottle loosely in one hand as he looked down at Naruto between his legs. Sasuke had removed his uniform jacket. The tight black shirt he wore beneath it hugged the contours of his broad shoulders all the way down to his flat, narrow waist.

Naruto had seen Sasuke naked many times as he watched him through his bedroom window. It was an entirely different thing to have him in person. As addictive as it was to just _watch_ Sasuke, actually being able to touch and taste him was a thousand times moreso.

Naruto knew this might be the only chance he got, so he was going to savor it. He moved his hands slowly, feeling the heat of Sasuke's body through the fabric beneath the palms of his hands, the hard strength of his thighs. Sasuke watched him silently, his face impassive, but Naruto could smell the spike in arousal. Naruto paused with his hands on Sasuke's thighs just below his hips bones. The bulge in Sasuke's pants was more pronounced, and Naruto leaned forward, tracing the tip of his nose along the prominent ridge. The fabric was course against his skin. He drew a deep breath, saliva filling his mouth at the dark, delicious musk of Sasuke's body.

Naruto's eyes drifted closed as he dug his thumbs harshly into Sasuke's inner thighs, forcing his legs wider and earning a slight grunt in response. He opened his mouth, breathing out in a slow, hot breath, pushing the warm, damp air through the fabric to touch the sensitive flesh beneath it.

A slight flex of Sasuke's hips and the tensing of the muscles beneath his fingertips was the only response Sasuke gave him. Naruto looked up at him, grinning as Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him.

Sasuke fisted the fingers of his free hand into Naruto's hair, gripping it painfully. "Hurry up."

Naruto had to bite his lip to keep from groaning at the heat that shot through him at the rough touch. But he wasn't going to let Sasuke rush him.

"You smell good, Sasuke." Naruto's voice was low. He took another deep breath, not even trying to hide what he was doing. God, Sasuke smelled fucking _amazing._

Naruto slid his hand up, running the palm along the front of Sasuke's pants, heat coiling low in his belly as he felt how hard Sasuke was. Naruto stroked harder, watching intently as Sasuke's eyes drifted half closed but never left Naruto's face.

With his free hand, Naruto shoved up Sasuke's shirt to bare his stomach, drinking in the sight of Sasuke's smooth, pale skin over the taut muscles. There was a faint trail of black hair that started just below his navel disappearing into the waistband of Sasuke's pants, and Naruto didn't even think twice before leaning down and laving it with his tongue. The taste of Sasuke's skin short-circuited Naruto's brain.

"Oh, god," Naruto groaned, sucking harshly and using his teeth to at least temporarily mark Sasuke's body as his. The fist in Naruto's hair tightened, and Naruto shuddered at the pleasure of it.

"Yeah, that's it," Naruto murmured.

His fingers fumbled slightly in their haste as he undid the fastenings of Sasuke's uniform pants and unzipped them. Naruto looked up to meet Sasuke's gaze as he slowly curled his fingers around the waistband of Sasuke's pants and boxers, making his intent clear. Sasuke simply looked back at him, his face impassive, then brought the bottle to his lips and took another drink.

Naruto almost would have thought Sasuke was disinterested if it weren't for the heat in his heavy-lidded eyes and the thick scent of arousal pumping from his skin. Sasuke was going to make him work for it, and Naruto was more than fine with that. He slowly pulled Sasuke's pants and boxers down to mid-thigh, his eyes going red with a predatory gleam when Sasuke's erection bobbed free.

There was nothing disinterested in the flushed, painfully hard-looking shaft standing proudly from the nest of black curls.

Naruto hummed, trailing the back of his index finger along the under-side of Sasuke's cock, not missing the way Sasuke's jaw clenched and his abs tightened. A small, clear drop beaded at the tip of Sasuke's shaft, and Naruto leaned forward, swirling the tip of his tongue through the salty liquid, dipping lightly into the slit. He felt almost dizzy with the undiluted taste of Sasuke on his tongue. He breathed in the scent of him, reveled in the heat of his skin beneath his fingertips.

He could hear Sasuke's breaths coming faster, harsher.

Naruto's own dick was nearly killing him, pressed hot and hard against the zipper of his pants, but he didn't want to stop touching Sasuke's skin long enough to unzip his own pants and relieve some of the pressure.

Instead, he nuzzled the base of Sasuke's dick, sliding his hands along the sharp cut of Sasuke's hip bones. He slid his thumbs into the grooves at his hips, gripping Sasuke and lifting his hips slightly as he mouthed over Sasuke's balls, feeling them pull taut beneath his tongue. Sasuke's body was taut with arousal, and the heady scent of it made Naruto feel drunk on it. He couldn't get enough of it, even though he knew it was a dangerous addiction to chase. Sasuke was only allowing this because he didn't have his usual sources for stress release. But that was ok. Naruto was fine with that.

Naruto swirled his tongue around the underside of Sasuke's head, looking up to find Sasuke's eyes latched on his mouth. Naruto slowly sucked the head into his mouth, reveling in the way Sasuke's pupils dilated at the sight. The bottle that Sasuke had been holding hit the floor, but neither of them bothered to look to see if it had spilled or not.

The hand that had been in Naruto's hair maintained its tight grip, while the other now splayed out flat on the dirty floor. A low sound came from Sasuke's throat, and Naruto chased after it, sucking all of Sasuke's length down to the base. Naruto fought the reflex to choke as Sasuke's cock hit the back of his throat. He didn't want to go only part way. He wanted all of Sasuke, any way he could have him.

He hollowed his cheeks, increasing the suction as he watched Sasuke's head fall back, felt the flex of the man's hips beneath him as Sasuke's body responded to his mouth. Naruto growled around the thick girth of Sasuke's erection, bobbing his head with deliberate slowness so he could watch every flicker of reaction in Sasuke's face.

He slipped one of his hands between Sasuke's thighs, first palming Sasuke's balls with the heel of his hand then sliding his hand further down so the rough pad of his thumb could massage against the thin skin by his prostate.

"Fuck," Sasuke murmured. The sound of the raw lust in his voice had Naruto's body nearly shaking with need.

Naruto slid both hands up over Sasuke's thighs, then around to cup the hard curve of his ass, lifting his hips up from the blankets and forcing Sasuke's cock even deeper into his throat. Sasuke got the message, taking over the pace and thrusting up harshly into Naruto's mouth, fucking into him with ruthless snaps of his hips.

"Jesus christ," Sasuke rasped out, dropping his hand from Naruto's hair to place both of his palms flat on the floor for maximum leverage.

Naruto's hips flexed, desperate to get some relief to his own painful arousal as he felt the taut strain of Sasuke's muscles. He could see the slight glisten of sweat across the smooth skin of Sasuke's stomach. Naruto just wanted to bury his face in Sasuke's belly and stay there, but first he wanted to make him cum.

He dug his fingers harshly into Sasuke's hips, egging him on, faster and deeper. He hoped his fingers left marks, even if they would only be temporary. From what he'd seen, none of Sasuke's prior lovers had marked him. Naruto reveled in the fact that he was the first to dare to do so.

The rhythm of Sasuke's hips started to become irregular, and Naruto focused all his effort on sucking harder and keeping his throat relaxed and open. Sasuke's fingers clenched against the floor, fingernails digging scratches in as he arched back with bared teeth and came.

Naruto pulled back just enough that Sasuke's cum filled his mouth rather than going deep into his throat. He wrapped his hand around Sasuke's cock, pumping him through every last shudder of his orgasm, milking every drop of cum from him, letting it fill his mouth, pooling on his tongue.

Sasuke fell back against the blankets, his chest heaving and his eyes glazed. His shirt was rucked up, baring his midriff, and his pants still down to mid-thigh.

Naruto released Sasuke's spent dick from his lips, his eyes traveling hungrily over Sasuke, loving the scent of satiation and the low thrum of lust that was coming off him. Naruto memorized the sight as he slowly swirled his tongue through the cum that still filled his mouth. He wanted to kiss Sasuke, to pour the seed that he kept trapped in his own mouth into Sasuke's, making him taste himself and acknowledge Naruto's claim on him. He wanted to cum in Sasuke's mouth and watch him drink it, then lick the remnants of his seed from Sasuke's tongue until all he could taste was Sasuke.

Of course, that was not going to happen. As far as Naruto had observed, Sasuke never kissed the people he fucked. He certainly wouldn't do so with Naruto, who was just a stand-in for the others.

The thought brought Naruto down to earth with a crash. He stood, ignoring the slightly questioning look Sasuke sent him. The prominent ridge in the front of Naruto's pants made it obvious he hadn't cum. Naruto walked over to the break room, closing the door behind him and walking to the sink. He jerked down the zipper of his pants with barely suppressed violence, spitting Sasuke's cum into his hand and fisting his swollen cock with it.

He let his head fall back at the slick feel of Sasuke's seed encasing his dick as he ruthlessly fucked into his hand, the taste of Sasuke still sharp on his tongue. The wet sounds somehow only made him angry, that this was all he was ever going to have. He realized too late that getting involved with Sasuke had been a huge mistake. It didn't stop the orgasm from ripping through him with brutal force in record time.

Naruto turned on the sink, watching his cum disappear down the drain. He washed his hands mechanically, then braced them on the edge of the counter, trying to get his breath.

There wasn't time for this shit. In the end, he was a soldier with orders to follow. Then he would move on, and build a life somewhere where people didn't view him as a monster. Somewhere that would make him forget the scent and taste of Sasuke.

Naruto pulled on the clean shirt he had brought out earlier from his pack, tugging it over his head. He opened the door to see Sasuke fastening his pants.

"Hopefully that took the edge off enough for you to sleep. I have watch. We'll be ready when Itachi sends word for us tomorrow," Naruto said, his voice clipped and all business.

Sasuke looked at him for a moment, his expression unreadable. The room still smelled heavily of sex, drowning out anything else Naruto might have been able to tell from his scent. Sasuke gave a short nod, then shifted down on the rumpled blankets, closing his eyes. Naruto watched him for a moment, then turned and headed to the other side of the building.

* * *

_To be continued..._


	8. Trust and betrayal

**A/N:** So, of course, we can't have a story where the relationship progresses smoothly with these boys, right? That would be no fun at all. ;-) BUT! Before you break out the pitchforks, next chapter will be the final one and it will be in Sasuke's POV!   In this chapter, I had to think about who I hated more, Danzo or Sarutobi.  I won't tell you which one I landed on.  But you will know before the end of the story LOL.

Special thanks to Tandy_Hard for proofing this for me on Christmas Day! 

 **Warnings** : Angst. Betrayal.  Mentions of past torture.

* * *

**Chapter 8 - Trust and betrayal**

Naruto kept watch for the next eight hours, making sure to not get too close to Sasuke's sleeping form. He could smell the residual arousal and alcohol on the man, and he knew it would only make him think of things he should be trying to forget. Sasuke wasn't for him, not in the way Naruto wanted him to be. What had started at as a simple curiosity had developed into a dangerous fascination that had crossed the border of obsession from the first night Naruto had watched Sasuke sleep. Having finally gotten his hands and mouth on Sasuke had only made it so much more addictive.

It was time for him to leave.

He would wait until Itachi arrived and finish the mission, but then he needed to get gone. Like he _should_ have done from the beginning. He wondered if Gaara had already left, or if he could find a way to leave with him, or at least catch up with him wherever he had gone to. Maybe some of his other 'siblings' would be trackable. It would be nice to have something like a family, now that he knew he wasn't really a danger to them.

If Sasuke had been telling the truth about the money thing, all Naruto needed to do was show up at one of the neutral, international banks to access the money. It made sense now, given who his parents were, that Sasuke had been able to set it up on his name. Anyone with the Namikaze or Uzumaki bloodline would have access to privileges that regular citizens didn't. Ironic, given that Naruto had spent the majority of his life in a cage, but he was going to make sure he didn't get thrown back in it.

His first priority would be to get out of the city, then transfer his account into one that he set up on his own. Naruto had no idea how to do that, but he was pretty sure Gaara would.

Sasuke had shown Naruto how to turn on the device, and Naruto quickly found the account information. Memorization had never been his strong suit, so Naruto tore a piece of the brown paper bag off and wrote the number on the paper, stuffing it into the side of his boot. When he left, he would be stupid to take Sasuke's comms device with him. It would only invite the man to track him down if he decided he wanted to.

Sasuke had been asleep for seven hours when Naruto heard the sound he had been listening for.

Drone.

Naruto stilled, listening to the sound shift as the device passed overhead. It was not on a regular surveillance pattern. It wasn't unexpected, but it would mean their timing had been moved up. He made his way to one of the emergency exits from the building that led to a narrow alley. It would be impossible to see unless the drone was directly overhead. Naruto listened closely, tracking the movement of the drone until he was sure it was past visual range of the exit. He pushed the door open slowly, not enough to be visibly open from a casual glance, but enough that a gust of air from the outside came in, unfiltered by the building's ducts. He drew a deep breath but detected no sign of scent suppressors or anything else that would indicate a unit advancing on their location.

Of course, they could be downwind from them.

Naruto went completely still listening for any further sound of boots or motorcycle engines or more drones, but there was nothing. In any case, Sasuke would want to be informed. He went back inside, walking up to the man sleeping on the pallet of blankets. He gave himself only a second to notice the way the thin blanket hugged the elite soldier's toned form. But there would be no time for that anymore.

"Sasuke," Naruto's tone was sharp and all business.

Sasuke gave a soft grunt, propping himself up on an elbow to look at Naruto. Dark, astute eyes quickly scanned Naruto's face, processing his tone and expression. "Is someone coming?" Sasuke asked, already sitting up and reaching for his boots. If the man had a hangover, he was clearly ignoring it. There was no sign of sluggishness in Sasuke's movements or speech.

"I'm not sure. A drone just flew over, off-pattern. I cracked open the southern exit and didn't smell anything, but I want to take a look around to see if we've got company."

Sasuke looked up from where he was tying his boots.

"Do it," Sasuke stated. His gaze seemed to flicker along Naruto's body for an instant, but nothing showed in his expression. His scent was - as usual - minimal, with only traces of tension and something that was almost uncertainty but it was so faint that Naruto was sure he was misreading it. "I'll check in with Itachi to see what he's heard. The curfew sirens haven't gone off, so there can't have been a new attack."

Naruto nodded sharply and turned on his heel, heading back to the sheltered exit without looking back. He was sure it was his imagination making him feel like Sasuke's eyes were glued to him the entire time.

* * *

Naruto was careful to stick to the shadows and narrow alleyways, minimizing the chance of him being visible from satellite. His tell-tale blond hair was covered by the dead soldier's hat he'd used as a disguise when he and Sasuke had escaped earlier. They'd have to already be looking at the warehouse to spot him. He moved slowly, listening for any sound that was out of place, breathing in every trace of the world around him.

Nothing.

He could hear the sound of more drones, but they had moved on to another neighborhood. Naruto concentrated on trying to separate out the sounds of how many and how far apart they were. It would be much easier to do if he could get up on the roof and look around, but he knew he couldn't risk it.

He couldn't be positive, but it sounded like a general search pattern that the drones were following, which was both good and bad news. It was bad because it meant the government was finally starting to look for them in the right places, but it was good because it meant they hadn't _found_ them yet. They were just fishing. But eventually, they would be found now that their enemies were starting to look in the right place. They couldn't just sit on their asses anymore.

Naruto quietly slipped back into the building. Sasuke was standing just inside the entrance. The sharp scent of adrenaline told Naruto that Sasuke had received news before the man had even opened his mouth.

"Change of plans," Sasuke shoved a body armor jacket into Naruto's hands. He was already wearing his own, the thin but nearly impenetrable vest leaving Sasuke's toned arms and the tattoo on his shoulder bare. "Gear up. We're leaving now. Itachi still isn't here, but he said that they now know we didn't leave the city. If we stay here, it's only a matter of time before they find us."

Naruto nodded, forcing himself not to look as he began taking off his own shirt to wear the armor underneath, where it wouldn't be visible. He could smell the lust for battle already starting to edge red into Sasuke's scent. Naruto walked into the small break room to finish dressing, pulling the bulletproof body armor on. It wouldn't stop everything, but it would be a good start. He pulled his jacket back on, covering up the thin armor. If people didn't know he was wearing it, maybe they wouldn't aim for his head.

He was glad he wasn't going to have to argue with Sasuke about the need to move the timetable up. He noticed some floorboards pried up in the corner of the break room, likely where Sasuke had stored the gear in case it was needed. The sound of Sasuke's boots against the wood floor snapped Naruto out of his thoughts.

"Where are we going?" Naruto looked up to find Sasuke's eyes locked on him, oddly intent.

Sasuke's lips tightened. "Whoever ordered the hit on Itachi and me has to be extremely high up. They had to be in control of Orochimaru's tactics and have access to full military and civilian intelligence given their knowledge of the safe houses. That already narrows the field considerably. But they also had to have the ability to move the satellites and military cameras without having anyone else approve the changes. That leaves two options. General Danzo or Chancellor Sarutobi."

"Fuck," Naruto breathed out at the mention of the two most powerful men in the government. General Danzo was the head of the military black ops during the war, then had taken over as head of security after the treaty had been signed. Chancellor Sarutobi was the current leader of the government, having been re-elected in a landslide post war as well as having the full backing of the military. Either man would be almost impossible to take down outside of a straight-up suicide mission or a civil war. And even then, chances were low. "So… both those guys have security up the ass, not to mention are pretty much untouchable in terms of legal shit. So how are we gonna play this?"

Sasuke smirked, but there was no trace of amusement in his scent. "Ever hear of game theory, Naruto?"

"Like… prisoner's dilemma kind of stuff?"

Sasuke nodded.

Naruto shrugged. "Not really. They didn't train me much for tactics or interrogation. I was pretty much their brute force guy in battle."

"Itachi and I both have extensive training both in tactics and interrogation. It was… a family tradition. We know it's one of them, but not _which_ one. They have to believe that we know who it is, and that the other person is there to officially take them into custody. If we do it right, we'll get them to react before they have time to plan it out."

"And if it doesn't work?"

"We'll be at best tried for treason, at worst start a civil war." Sasuke looked unconcerned, and his scent showed that it wasn't a front. If it weren't for the tight ball of ice that had just landed in Naruto's stomach, he would definitely have been turned on.

But this type of fight wasn't Naruto's thing. He was trained for straight-forward battles, not political machinations. "Look, we can't just walk in and start throwing accusations around. Or just try to put a bullet in them. If it were that easy, someone would have managed it a long fucking time ago. _Everyone_ hates Danzo. People are loyal to him only out of the fear he'd earned leaving a long string of pretty gruesome bodies in his path, both enemies and supposed friends. People like Sarutobi, I guess, but he's still the leader of a nation that's killed a shitload of people during the war. I'm fine for a tough fight, but if I'm going in for a suicide mission, I'd like to know up-front."

Sasuke stepped closer, brushing Naruto's hands away from where he had paused in buttoning up the jacket over the body armor and fastening the last two himself.

"I would tell you if this were a suicide mission." Sasuke's voice was low, his eyes pinning Naruto in his place. "I won't lie and say it will be easy, but there is a reason that both men fear me and Itachi. I need you to follow my orders if this is going to work."

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's wrists, forcing them away from him. "Don't."

Sasuke arched a brow, but stepped back. His scent was full of the same tension and battle lust that Naruto had noted earlier, but the uncertainty had spiked up.

"I told you I got your back on this, Sasuke. I'm not going to bail now just because it's hard, but I need to know the plan." He didn't even know how Sasuke was doing it, but his scent had changed and was filled with a possessive heat that was making Naruto sweat. Naruto stepped back, putting some distance between himself and Sasuke. He wondered if it were part of the bloodline trait - the ability to alter the body's chemical response to emotions enough to block or fake them. Naruto had never seen it before but nothing else made sense. "You said you're going to give them what they wanted. So… what do they want?" Naruto asked, already knowing that he wasn't going to like the answer. Sasuke wouldn't be trying to manipulate him if it were simple.

"A way to take me out permanently and put you back under their control," Sasuke said emotionlessly, his eyes narrowed slightly as though trying to read Naruto better. A sharp, hard edge of Sasuke's anger in his scent appeared at his words, but there was a tension as well that had a fierce protectiveness that Naruto could only assume meant that Sasuke was also worried for his brother.

Sasuke paused, and Naruto noticed that Sasuke was carrying a small, metal case with the insignia of the military command across the front of it. Sasuke didn't take his eyes from Naruto as he opened the case.

"You'll need to wear these, but we'll put them on when we get closer."

The sight of the military-grade electroshock shackles that Sasuke held in his hands was like a bucket of ice water. Memories of what Orochimaru had done to him when he had first been thrown into that cell had Naruto's fists clenching. It was what they had used to secure him when they'd turned on him in battle. They were made of a thick, nearly unbreakable titanium and had the added enhancement of being able to deliver a nearly lethal electric shock at the press of a button on the remote. Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, I don't think so," Naruto said flatly. "Last time someone got those on me, I was unconscious. And that was before I'd had the pleasure of finding out what it feels like when they're activated."

Naruto's body posture shifted slightly, his stance widening. He was _not_ going back to Orochimaru's cell. He would fight Sasuke if he had to. This hadn't been part of the deal.

"Naruto." Sasuke stepped forward, his eyes locked on Naruto. "There are two reasons I need you to wear them. The first is that they will never believe you are my prisoner if you come in without being bound. The second is…," Sasuke held up the shackles in one hand and the remote in the other. He pressed the green button on the remote and the shackles unlocked. "… I can release you from them even if I am across the room. They will assume you are not a threat and focus on me if things go bad. We'll have the element of surprise on our side. But you have to trust me."

Naruto eyed the device with trepidation. Did he trust Sasuke that far? Sasuke had made no bones about the fact that he saw Naruto as a means to an end. Yes, Sasuke had been honest about it but… what would happen when they reached that end? Sasuke was still a senior ranking member of the government that was hunting Naruto down.

Sasuke eyed him steadily. "I wouldn't have suggested it if there was any other way. They'll never let you in the building alive if you aren't wearing these. You might be anonymous on the street, but I guarantee you that every single person in the building we are going to knows your face on sight."

Naruto tried to think about whether he was really willing to walk away from the mission over this. He had given his word to Sasuke, and that was something that held weight. But Sasuke hadn't told him about this part of the plan. Could he find another way to help see this through without wearing them? Not in the amount of time they had.

Then there was all the rest of it… everything Sasuke had told him. Orochimaru had probably had his parents killed, or at least worked together with whoever did. There was no way he was going to go back into a facility under his command, but it was also likely that - whoever was behind Sasuke's assassination attempt - was the person that Orochimaru had been working with as they tried to eliminate all the bloodlines that threatened them. The only chance Naruto had at putting an end to it was to wear the shackles that he promised himself he'd never wear again.

"Tell me the plan first," Naruto said, his face hard.

As he listened, he realized that this was the best chance they had. A lot of things could go wrong, but waiting further was not an option. It didn't matter if he trusted Sasuke or not. He was going to see this through and make sure that the whole twisted system was shut down for good.

* * *

"We can't give them time to take us out on the way there," Sasuke stated, pulling his uniform jacket back on and checking Naruto's communication device for any new intel from Itachi. "The whole plan hinges on giving them no time to plan."

Naruto nodded, knowing that Sasuke wasn't telling him everything, but also knowing that there really wasn't time.

"The tunnels are out," Naruto said. "The six block radius near the government headquarters has cameras up the ass, even in the storm sewers below it. We can get near it, but not close enough."

"That's why we're not taking the tunnels," Sasuke said, pulling out his weapon and checking it with fluid, practiced movements.

Naruto paused from where he was sliding the screwdriver into the side of his boot (just in case). "Did you miss the part where I said that there are cameras up the ass in that part of town? Plus, I'm sure they have pretty much constant drone and satellite coverage."

"Exactly. Tunnels are out, and so is anything that is visible from street level. Rooftop is covered by satellite, so that's out too." Sasuke walked toward the side exit that Naruto had used earlier.

"So… what's left?" Naruto asked, pulling on the hat to cover his hair and face as much as possible.

"Covered vehicle." Sasuke didn't blink as he leveled his gun directly at the next van that came along and commandeered the use of the vehicle. The elderly woman who was driving the dry cleaning delivery van looked terrified when she first saw Sasuke's gun, but her eyes shifted to merely fearful when she saw the insignia on the shoulder of Sasuke's jacket. "One they don't know and isn't military."

Sasuke opened the rear door. The woman looked at Sasuke, her hands raised to show compliance. "Drive to Government Headquarters. I'll give you directions for which route to take. Follow them."

The woman gave a timid nod as Sasuke slid into the back seat, but her eyes widened as Naruto followed him into the car.

"I- I know you!" she stammered. "But, they said you were killed decades ago!"

Naruto glanced over at Sasuke. "That was my father."

The woman gasped. "But… then why didn't-"

"Stop talking and drive," Sasuke snapped. The woman looked like she wanted to finish her question, but a narrow-eyed look from Sasuke had her paling and facing forward. She didn't try to speak again. There was a growing scent of urgency to Sasuke's scent, and Naruto knew their plan needed precise timing.

There had to be time for Itachi to deliver the message in advance of their arrival, but not enough time for Sarutobi or Danzo to gather their forces or come up with a solid plan. Sasuke directed her on their route to avoid the numerous police checkpoints that had been set up around the city. Tinted windows were illegal for all but top political figures, so Naruto and Sasuke kept their heads down to prevent the street cameras from being able to identify them.

"Open your window," Sasuke ordered the woman. She lowered it immediately, despite the cold. Sasuke looked over at Naruto. "Anything?"

Naruto drew in a breath. "Definitely in the government district. Lots of people on guard. I'm guessing the security alert level is maxed out. But I don't smell any chemical enhancers or scent suppressants. If they know we're coming, they're keeping whatever surprise they've got for us indoors."

Sasuke simply nodded, seeming to be satisfied with Naruto's response. Naruto felt an odd twist of happiness at how easily Sasuke and he seemed to slip into working together. It wasn't that long ago that Sasuke was trying to kill him on a rooftop. Now he trusted Naruto to scout the area for them. Though he supposed Sasuke was used to working with others on missions. This was likely just like any other assignment the man had worked. Naruto forced himself to look somewhere other than Sasuke, keeping his mind on analyzing the air for any change that would signal they'd been found out.

When they got within three blocks of the government headquarters building, Sasuke pulled out the shackles. "You need to have these on if you're going to come with me."

Naruto looked at them for a moment. "If you saw my medical records. You know what they did to me with these."

Sasuke gave a slight nod, looking grim. The comms device buzzed, and he glanced down at the message that appeared there. "Itachi's sent word to Sarutobi and Danzo. They know we're coming. We have three minutes to get inside before Danzo's full security team could make it here and intercept us. We need to leave now and you won't get in the door without wearing these. I'll release you when we're in the situation room as soon as we figure out which one it is. Just follow the plan."

The car was already slowing to a stop out front of their destination. They would only be allowed at most one minute before security would come to investigate a car standing there.

"Fine." Naruto turned away from Sasuke, putting his hands behind his back to allow the shackles to be placed on him. He knew that regulations required high threat level prisoners to have their hands bound behind them, not in front. He was probably at the top of the threat-level food chain, so he didn't bother trying to get Sasuke to do it the other way, even if it would allow him some limited use of his hands. He flinched as he felt the locks click closed, the device cold and smooth and somehow sinister against his skin.

They opened the van doors, looking directly into the security cameras mounted on the streetlight next to where they were parked. There was no point in hiding anymore. Naruto caught a faint trace of a familiar scent, but it was fleeting and Naruto wondered if it was just his imagination. Either way, there wasn't time to find out.

* * *

In any other circumstance, Naruto would have laughed at the studded expression on the faces of the guards when they strode through the front door of the most secure building in the realm. Naruto's arms were shackled behind him, and Sasuke's weapon trained on his back, but still, the guards' eyes widened and their scent spiked from on 'generally on guard' to 'about to piss themselves' in under a second. Naruto could see one of the men behind the desk frantically slamming what he assumed was a silent alarm button. He was sure he saw Sasuke's lips twitch in amusement.

"Let Commander Danzo and Chancellor Sarutobi know we're here. They're expecting us. We will be in the Situation Room." Sasuke didn't bother to wait to see if his orders would be obeyed as he turned and continued on his way, completely ignoring the guard's frantic salute from the head guard before the man immediately picked up the phone and started barking orders.

They had agreed in advance that the elevators were too much of a risk. Sasuke placed his palm flat on the access pad, and the electronic lock clicked open, allowing them access to the staircase. There was a narrow window in the stairwell that someone had opened, and Naruto paused as he caught the scent from earlier again. Stronger, and definitely not his imagination.

"What?" Sasuke asked, noticing Naruto's gaze locked on the window.

Naruto hesitated only a moment. "Still no chemical enhancers or scent suppressors," was all he said.

Sasuke paused for a moment, his eyes locked on Naruto's before giving a sharp nod. They continued their way up the stairs to the third floor.

It was no surprise to find twelve guards already stationed outside the room. They had their weapons pointed at Naruto as soon as he turned the corner.

"Stand down," Sasuke snapped out, his voice full of command. The soldiers glanced at each other nervously, but obeyed. Naruto grinned at them as he walked past them and entered the room. When they made to follow, Sasuke held up a hand.

"This prisoner has highly classified information about an assassination attempt and the person behind the bombing. The only two people currently cleared to hear what he has to say are Commander Danzo and Chancellor Sarutobi. You will stand guard here. Do not let _anyone_ else in this hallway, much less into this room. Understood?"

The man who was evidently in charge of the guards shifted, eying Naruto nervously. "But sir, that man is -"

Sasuke didn't let him finish. "Are you questioning my direct order, _soldier_?" His voice was low and cut through the room like a blade. The man paled, snapping to sharp attention. "No, sir!"

Sasuke walked right up to the man, not taking his eyes from him. By the scent of the soldier, he was about three seconds from passing out cold. "Then follow my instructions."

All the guards stood without breathing, except to shout out a sharp, "Yes, sir!" in unison.

Sasuke nodded coldly and stalked into the room after Naruto, closing the door behind him with a click. The room was heavily monitored, so both men knew better than to say anything. Naruto's eyes met Sasuke's and held for just a moment, and it was all Naruto could do to keep from grinning. So far, their plan was working. But it was a big bet, and the two most important players had yet to make an appearance.

As if summoned by their thoughts, the electronic lock on the door clicked and Sarutobi entered the room. Sasuke stiffened, his eyes going red.

"Itachi said he informed you that we would only meet with you and Danzo together." Sasuke's voice was devoid of emotion, but Naruto could detect a trace of nerves. They needed both men in the room together at the same time for this to work.

The elderly man smiled benignly. "He's on his way. Fairly presumptuous of your brother to make such a demand, but Itachi has always been such a serious boy."

Sarutobi looked like a kind old grandfather, just like all the images Naruto had ever seen of him on TV. It was image had won him the loyalty of most citizens, despite the conditions they lived in. The man's scent, however, was absolutely nothing like the face he presented to the world. It was filled with ruthless pride, cunning, and anger… no hint of kindness or benevolence to be found. Naruto had never met anyone who had such a mismatch between the facade they wore and the real emotions beneath the surface, and it make the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He finally understood how this man was able to hold onto power for so long. He was utterly ruthless and not at all what he seemed.

"Sasuke -" Naruto began, not sure how much he could really say without giving away their hand, but the door was opening again. Danzo strode in, with six armed, elite Special Forces soldiers flanking him.

"Tell them to get out," Sasuke bit out sharply.

"No." Danzo looked at Sasuke coldly. "You and your brother are not the ones in charge here. This is a matter of national security. I make the decisions. Particularly when it comes to protection of our leader." Danzo's gaze shifted to Naruto, and narrowed. "You have brought an extremely dangerous and unstable prisoner here, under the guise of giving evidence. I will take the precautions I deem necessary."

"I'm not unstable," Naruto growled out, the anger at what Sasuke had revealed to him the day before bubbling up. One of Danzo's men jerked his weapon up, and Sasuke had a bullet between his eyes before he could finish pulling the trigger. The tension in the room catapulted at the sound of the body hitting the ground. The five remaining guards were poised, but clearly torn about whether to try their luck against the legendary Uchiha or stand down. Only their exemplary training had them waiting for Danzo to give the order.

Danzo looked dispassionately at the dead soldier at his feet, nudging the body to the side and further away from his pristine shoes. "Tch. The rest of you hold your fire unless I give the order."

Sasuke didn't lower his gun. "This is why I told you not to clutter the room with anyone else. Your soldiers are a liability, Danzo. They lack control."

Naruto didn't know what the history was between the two men, but it was clear by the sudden stench of hatred and jealousy that pounded off Danzo at Sasuke's words that Sasuke had struck a direct blow with his statement.

"I will not repeat myself, _Uchiha_. You are not the one who makes the decisions in this room," the General said tightly.

Sasuke smiled coldly. "Let's see how that changes after you hear what Naruto has to say. I have no trouble with more witnesses to his statement. It was merely a courtesy we were extending."

Danzo's eyes sharpened, first at Sasuke, then locked on Naruto.

Sasuke continued. "We were finally able to discover who was behind the assassination attempts on my family, and also who was behind the bombing in the city as well. Those both constitute acts of treason against the State. Even for someone in the highest office. Of course, for someone in such a position, protocol says that only someone of equal rank can formally make the charge and take them into custody. Which is why we needed both of you here."

The implication was clear, and the room stilled. The President and the General didn't exchange a glance, but there was a subtle shift in their scent and body language. It came to Naruto suddenly that they weren't going to find out _which one_ was behind this.

They both were.

Naruto tried to think about how to warn Sasuke without ruining the plan when the door opened again. The man who walked into the room had Naruto's arms straining against the shackles.

"Orochimaru," Sasuke said, his gun still leveled at the elite soldiers flanking Danzo. "You were not invited to this debriefing."

Naruto almost gagged at the covetous way Orochimaru's eyes ran over Sasuke's body. If Sasuke was right, the Uchiha were the last bloodline family that the man had been unable to get his hands on.

"He is here on my orders," Sarutobi stated. "I cleared it with the guards you had terrified on your way in."

Orochimaru ignored the old man, clearly unable to take his eyes from Sasuke.

"You have my property. I am here to reclaim him. This one can be… difficult to control, at times." Orochimaru's gaze finally landed on Naruto, bringing back memories of all the ways the man had tried to control him in the past. And the knowledge that this man had obviously been a part of whatever plan had brought about the murder of his parents.

Naruto could feel Sasuke's eyes on him, but all he could think about was getting the cuffs off and ripping these men apart. He could feel the energy coiling through his body. There was no way this was going to end in anything other than a slaughter, and Naruto was more than ready. He let out a frustrated huff, wishing Sasuke would release his restraints, but knowing that Sasuke needed one of them to make some sort of incriminating statement so this didn't come off as just another coup attempt. No one would simply take Naruto's word that they 'smelled guilty'. But these men were skilled at their game. Naruto needed to do something to shake them loose or this was going to fail. It was time to go for Plan B.

"Naruto." Sasuke's voice cut through the anger that was pulsing through.

Naruto finally tore his gaze from Orochimaru and looked over at Sasuke. "They're all in on it, Sasuke. Danzo looks at you and stinks of hatred and jealousy. He's only playing nice and waiting for you to lower your gun, and he's going to give the order for his men to shoot. Sarutobi over there," Naruto nodded his head toward the kind, grandfatherly-looking man. "Smells just straight up cold and ruthless. Everything about him is a total front, and it's no surprise he never let a single G-mod near him. We'd smell his lies a mile away. And Orochimaru is the one who's going to collect your DNA and add it to the mix. They'll have all the bloodlines then, under their control. We're sitting ducks here, Sasuke. They aren't going to let us out of here alive."

Naruto turned to look at all three men. "Sasuke told me about my parents. How they 'mysteriously' died just after Kushina became pregnant. I looked at the file of Minato Namikaze's supposed training accident. No surprise the files were never released to the public." Naruto turned to glare at Danzo. "That was another one of your personally trained squads, wasn't it?"

The room was completely still for a moment, and Naruto tugged experimentally on his restraints. The cuffs should have been released by now. What the fuck was he waiting for? There was a fifty-fifty chance that someone would speak or someone would start shooting, and Naruto would really prefer to be unbound if the second was going to happen. Sasuke didn't look at him, his eyes staying locked on Danzo and his men. Danzo looked completely calm, but Naruto could smell the tension churning from him. Surprisingly it was Sarutobi who spoke.

"Did you think Sasuke brought you here to help you avenge your parents, Naruto?" the old man chuckled. "The Uchiha brothers have their own agenda, and you are not really a part of it, except for the evidence you can provide.  The poorly thought-out assassination attempt is simply giving them a chance to settle an old score."  He turned his gaze to Danzo.  “If Naruto has evidence that you were behind the attempt on the Uchiha brothers, I will not be able to overlook it.  During the war, people were willing to tolerate your… methods. You've become a liability now.  More and more leaders within the military are calling for you to step down."

Danzo's scent shifted abruptly to one of fear.

"You- you were the one who told me to launch the attack on them. You were the one who put me in contact with the mercenaries from -" Danzo cut himself off as realization slowly dawned on him. "You set me up."

Sarutobi lifted his hands slightly, as though it was all out of his control. "Don’t try to blame me for your own actions."

Naruto frowned at the Sarutobi's scent. "He's lying." Naruto shot a glance over towards Sasuke, but Sasuke's gaze remained laser-focused on the armed guards. Danzo appeared to be much more interested in what Naruto had to say, his head snapping over to look at him. "Sasuke, the old man is lying. He's just trying to cover his ass so you go for Danzo and not him."

Sarutobi glanced at Orochimaru, and the warden raised a small dart gun and fired, hitting Naruto square in the chest with a tranquilizer dart that Naruto knew from the smell was especially designed to take down G-mods pretty much instantly.

Luckily, it wasn't built to penetrate military grade body armor. But before Naruto could celebrate his luck, he heard the telltale click of the electric shock mechanism being activated. His mind froze, his chest tightening at the magnitude of the betrayal from Sasuke. The man's scent gave nothing away, as though what he'd just done didn't even register for him.

Without a second thought Naruto charged straight at where Orochimaru was standing. His arms might still be bound, but his legs were unrestrained and he was going to go out kicking. He had always wondered if it were part of the design… letting the victim know what was coming, letting the dread build for the eleven seconds Naruto remembered precisely before the shock would come.

Orochimaru didn't have time to get out of the way before Naruto barreled into him, sending him slamming with shuddering force against the bulletproof window. Naruto spun, slamming his back against the warden's chest and grabbing Orochimaru with his shackled hands, effectively using the older man as a human shield from the soldiers in the room. He only needed to buy a moment's hesitation from them as he kicked out at the window with all his strength. The glass cracked. It didn't shatter, but the force of Naruto's blow ripped the entire window out of the frame. He kept his grip on Orochimaru tight as he flung himself toward the opening. "You better hope I don't survive, Uchiha," Naruto called out over his shoulder.

His words were not a joke… the window was three stories up and Naruto _wasn't_ sure if he'd survive the fall unconscious as he was likely to be, but he didn't care. He wasn't going to go back to the cell and serve the remainder of his days under the control of the men who had killed his parents. In an instant, Naruto and Orochimaru were following the large pane of glass through the opening and hurtling down to the street below. Naruto had only just cleared the window ledge when the shock came through the shackles around his wrists with a flash of searing pain. He heard himself screaming, someone shouting and gunshots being fired.

Then everything went black.

* * *

Naruto knew instinctively he had been out for far longer than a day when he slowly opened his eyes. The apartment was unfamiliar, but there was a scent there he recognized that kept him from panicking.

"Gaara?" he asked, his voice raspy with disuse. His body felt weak, though there wasn't any particular pain.

"You're awake," a familiar, gravelly voice spoke. Gaara walked over to the sofa where Naruto was laying down. "We were starting to worry."

"We?" Naruto asked, levering himself up on an elbow and glancing around the room.

A blonde woman appeared, her hair in four spiky ponytails that might have appeared whimsical, but her eyes were sharp and intelligent.

"I'm Temari, Gaara's sister." She gave Naruto a slight smile. "And you've been sleeping on my couch for five days."

"Five? Shit," Naruto scrubbed a hand over his face, then looked back at Gaara. "I thought I caught a trace of you before we went in. I wasn't sure there would be enough left of me to scrape off the sidewalk to make it worth your while to collect me after I jumped out that window." Naruto gave a half-hearted laugh, but it wasn't really a joke.

"There almost wasn't. You had dislocated both your shoulders, broken your collarbone, and cracked eight of your ribs. Not to mention the major electric burns to your system." Gaara's voice turned cold, and Naruto didn't need to use his sense of smell to know the man was furious. He wasn't the only one who'd had the experience of that particular device. "Lucky for you, you landed on the guy you brought along for the ride. He softened the blow just enough that your thick skull made it through ok."

Naruto rolled his shoulders, then looked down at his bare wrists. "How did you get them off? I thought it was impossible without the remote."

Temari smirked. "Not if you know what you're doing."

"Thanks," Naruto said, feeling himself shudder in memory of the pain they could inflict. He heard the sound of a fleet of drones pass overhead, and he stilled, waiting to see if they'd pause or keep going.

"We're safe here," Gaara said. "They have been searching every tunnel and dive in the city looking for you. It never occurred to them to check an apartment in a secure, high clearance government residential building."

"How… how did you…," Naruto's head was still somewhat foggy, and he wasn't even sure where to start.

"We were monitoring the warehouse you and Sasuke were hiding out in. When we saw you get in the van and head for downtown, we figured you were going to make your move. Temari altered the feeds from the apartment and the street cameras between here and the government center and put them on an extended repeat loop so they wouldn't pick up my movements. I went in case they tried to take you prisoner. Didn't expect you to come falling out of the third floor window carrying the fucking warden with you."

Naruto snickered. "Yeah. That wasn't Plan A."

"I should hope it wasn't even Plan R," Temari huffed out. "He didn't know if you would make it."

The gentle, protective tone in Temari's voice as she glanced at Gaara made Naruto smile. At least one of them had gotten their family back. But if the video feeds had been monitored, there was a good chance that it would be discovered, if it hadn't already. There couldn't be too many people able to do what Temari had done, putting Temari and Gaara in danger if they stayed too long.

"You had said you had to finalized some things before you left," Naruto looked over at Gaara. "What's your timeline?"

"As soon as you're mobile. We had been trying to save up a bit more money, but it's better to get out now while everything is in chaos," Temari said.

Naruto shifted his legs off to the side and slowly sat up. "I might have something to help with that." He reached into his boot, pulling out the piece of paper that had the bank account number on it. "Can you access this without being caught?"

Temari took the piece of paper and snorted. "Of course."

She pulled out her laptop and began to type, her fingers a blur on the keyboard. After a few moments, her widened. "This is amazing. I don't know who set up this account for you, but it's pretty much untraceable without the account number. There are enough funds here for you to pretty much do what you want, Naruto. This will last you decades, if you're careful with your money."

Naruto felt a small release of tension at the hidden worry that Sasuke had been lying to him the entire time. He might have betrayed Naruto in the end, but the account he had set up was at least real. Naruto tried to see things from Sasuke's side. Sasuke had family, a career, an actual _life._ Things that had been in play way before he'd met Naruto.

"Do you know what happened after I got out?" he asked.

"Sasuke shot Danzo and all the guards. Sarutobi is under house arrest. Itachi arrived with half the army. He's taking over as acting Chancellor until things get sorted out." Gaara watched Naruto's reaction carefully.

"So… they planned this?" Naruto asked.

Gaara shrugged. "I doubt it was an accident."

Naruto wondered how much Sasuke had known before walking into that room, and how much had been a set-up to trick Naruto into letting himself be captured from Day 1. And if Itachi and Sasuke were in charge… the drones were still searching for him. What did that mean?

As if reading his thoughts, Gaara spoke. "If you can find the account and view the activity just by having the account number, so can someone else. They'll be able to see if you access the money. It would be an easy way to track you."

Had Sasuke done this just as a failsafe so that - if Naruto somehow managed to escape - he could still track him down?

"I can fix that," Temari said smugly.

Gaara arched a brow at her.

"I can set up a new account, one that has no ties to anyone from the District. We'll transfer all the funds through a series of shell companies. It's the same way I found a few people I worked with siphoning funds off public projects. It's untraceable. The new account number will be hidden. Unless someone already has the new account number, it will be impossible to find."

Gaara and Temari both looked at Naruto for his approval of what to do with his money. It would cut the last tangible tie with Sasuke. But Naruto knew he would be an idiot if he didn't do it. In the end, Sasuke hadn't let released the shackles. Sasuke had been no better than any of the others. He'd just been smarter.

Naruto nodded, no longer feeling conflicted. "Do it. We'll go and start over somewhere else where your father and the government here can't find us."

"This is your money, Naruto," Temari began.

"There's enough there for all of us. I owe you for covering my ass with all the satellites and video feeds that I missed. Plus you hid me when I was out. I don't know what the going rate for treason and cyber-espionage are, but I'm pretty sure it's not cheap."

Temari chuckled and glanced at Gaara, but his eyes were fixed on Naruto, a frown on his hairless brow. Naruto bit his lip. He wanted them to all leave together, and he wanted to be able to help them.

"Besides. That's what family does. Right?" Naruto asked, a small, hopeful smile on his face.

Slowly, Gaara's face relaxed. He gave a tiny smile in return.

"Ok, so… we're doing this?" Temari asked, looking between the two men.

"We're doing this," Gaara confirmed.

Temari went back to work on her laptop, her lower lip between her teeth, her brow furrowed in concentration as she went to work.

Gaara continued to watch Naruto.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"You're sure you want to leave? You don't want to try to talk to him?"

Naruto shrugged, remembering the flash of panic and then betrayal when Sasuke had not released him… and when he'd felt the charge building.

"His brother was there with a frickin' army. They got what they wanted. But he tried to send me back to prison, in the end."

Gaara considered him for a moment more. "Are you sure?"

Naruto sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. "He's the one who had the remote."

Gaara's face turned grim.

Naruto thought about it for a moment, then stood, grabbing the military jacket and helmet that Temari had found for him.

"Where are you going?" Gaara asked.

"I'll be back in less than two hours. Leave without me if I'm late. You can access the funds if something happens to me."

"You're going to talk to him?" Gaara asked, frowning.

"Nah. I'm not that stupid."

Gaara looked at him skeptically. "IT wouldn't be the first dumb thing you've done because of him. You're too fixated on him. It's dangerous. Especially now."

Naruto gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Yeah, well… they gave all the smart genes to you, I guess. Look, I'm not going to try to talk to him. I just…" Naruto sighed. He honestly didn't know what he was doing. But he wanted to at least _see_ Sasuke before he left.

Gaara frowned. "We're waiting for you. So you'd better fucking come back."

"Yeah, don't worry. I think I got over him about the time he flipped the switch and electrocuted my ass."

Gaara just looked at him. "Most people don't need it to get to that point."

Naruto shrugged. "Guess I'm just persistent. Don't worry. I won't be gone long."

* * *

With the nearly constant patrols scouring the city in the wake of the coup, it was easy for Naruto to blend in with a group of soldiers heading in the direction he wanted to go. Sasuke might be trying to track him, but he couldn't be looking everywhere at once.

It wasn't long before Naruto found himself in the darkened alley where everything had started. He spotted two new cameras, and had to make do with going on an adjacent building. It didn't have as clear a view into Sasuke's apartment, but it was not in the line of sight of the surveillance. Naruto waited, the dark of Sasuke's window making him wonder if the man had moved. With his brother now ruling the country, he supposed Sasuke's living quarters would have been upgraded as well.

He had almost given up when a light appeared. Maybe Sasuke had just gotten home, despite the late hour. Naruto sighed in frustration, his new vantage point not able to see what was going on in the room. He had made up his mind to leave when Sasuke appeared at the window. His face was in silhouette, but Naruto was able to make out the way he braced his arms on the ledge, looking out at the alley where Naruto used to watch him from. He wished he could make out his expression or his scent or anything that would give him some clue what the man was thinking. Was he regretting his actions? Was he gloating over Naruto's gullibility? Maybe he wasn't thinking about it at all, the event already forgotten as a minor step in a much bigger plan. Naruto supposed he would never know.

Sasuke turned, and a woman appeared by his side. Naruto recognized her as one of the prostitutes Sasuke had used in the past. She had been the one Naruto had taken back to the apartment he'd been staying in, before everything had blown up. For once, Naruto had no desire to stay and watch Sasuke have sex. His stomach twisted, and he told himself it wasn't jealousy. Naruto stood. It was time to leave.

Sasuke had clearly gone back to what he wanted.

And it isn't Naruto.

* * *

Naruto knocked on Temari's door, and it was immediately opened by Gaara. The sharp green eyes scanned Naruto quickly, as though assessing him for injury. Given his state the last time he'd been that close to Sasuke, Naruto supposed the man's concern wasn't surprising.

"Did you finish what you needed to?" Gaara asked

"Yeah." Naruto gave a small lopsided smile. "There's nothing for me here."

Gaara studied him for a moment, then nodded. "Ok. We're ready. We'll leave after the next rotation of the drone surveillance."

Naruto didn't bother replying. There was nothing left to say. It would be less than twelve hours before Naruto was across the borders, out of Sasuke's realm altogether. He would start over. He would build a new life and forget about his temporary fixation on one man.

* * *

_To be continued…_

A/N - So... this was obviously not a Christmas-themed chapter LOL.  BUT the next chapter will be the last, and I am super excited about it.  Hope you all have a happy holiday!


	9. Switching roles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So when I hit the 10k word mark and I still was only about half-way through what I wanted to cover in this final chapter, I realized it would be split in two. I am sure no one is surprised LOL. I also really liked the requests that many of you sent me on my website to have specific scenes or events framed from Sasuke's POV, so there is some of that in here (though only 2 scenes are 'rewrites'). Hopefully this answers all the questions that the last chapter raised! And it is out in about half the time as usual, partly because I was SO EXCITED to finally get to write Sasuke's POV, but also because I wanted to get this out in time for Tandy_Hard's birthday. Happy Birthday, luv! 
> 
> So here we have it. 11k words that is half of the final chapter. All in Sasuke's POV! :-)

**Warnings** : Violence, mentions of past torture. Frustrated!Sasuke. ;-)

* * *

**Chapter 9- Role reversal**

Meeting with Danzo and Sarutobi in the Situation Room was a calculated risk. There was no more secure room in the entire nation, with bulletproof windows, soundproof walls, in a bomb-secure building filled with armed soldiers. There would be no way that Danzo could take them out here and make it seem like a random attack. But the security of the room swung both ways. If they fucked this up and Sarutobi decided to arrest them for treason, there would be no way out.

It was an all or nothing play.

The fact that their original plan had gone to shit three minutes in was not good. Sarutobi showing up before Danzo had been minor, but Danzo arriving with his guards was a problem. Sasuke had planned on releasing Naruto from his shackles as soon as the four of them were in the room together, as a sign to Sarutobi of how much he trusted Naruto and to give Naruto the standing of a witness and not a prisoner.

But Danzo's guards made that impossible. Sasuke had immediately realized that Danzo was looking for any excuse to kill Naruto and prevent him from saying whatever evidence Danzo thought Naruto had found on him. Naruto was a wild-card, and since no one (other than Sasuke) knew how Naruto had managed to find out about the assassination attempt in the first place to stop it. Therefore, they also couldn't know whether or not he actually had evidence about who was behind it.

Danzo would have ordered his men to shoot Naruto at the first sign of threat. If Naruto stayed shackled in the device specifically _designed_ to keep G-mods under control, it would be hard to make the case for 'imminent danger'. Sasuke could only afford a slight glance at Naruto, hoping the soldier would realize how the game had changed now that there were more players.

Sasuke kept his attention focused on the five remaining guards in the room. Danzo's claim that they were here 'to protect' Chancellor Sarutobi was bullshit, but Sasuke had expected as much from the notorious General. The soldiers were here to carry out the man's orders and take the blame when Naruto (and most likely Sasuke) was killed. Danzo likely had a way to signal his men to attack if he wanted to, one that he could deny later and claim that the soldiers had acted in the heat of the moment and killed the G-mod. Sasuke would then be arrested for endangering the Chancellor, and likely executed.

Unfortunately for Danzo, Sasuke wasn't that stupid.

It was no secret that Danzo had wanted him and his brother dead for a long time. He had been the main person behind scandal that had gotten his father demoted from the position Danzo now held. With the demotion had come a reduced security contingent for Fugaku, and a successful assassination attempt shortly after. Sasuke had only been eight at the time, but he still remembered that night with crystalline clarity.

Fortunately, the assassins had underestimated the then fourteen-year-old Itachi. Itachi had woken just in time to see the man trying to tie up Sasuke where he had been sleeping in his bed. Itachi had garroted the first with the lamp cord from Sasuke's nightlight while the other had gone to start the car, then grabbed a kitchen knife and finished off the driver before calmly calling the police. There was never any proof about where the assassins were trying to take Sasuke to, but given the way Orochimaru's eyes still followed him, Sasuke could wager a good guess or two. The Uchiha bloodline was the only one never put into Orochimaru's research program. And the man had wanted a complete set.

Sasuke and Itachi had been nearly inseparable since then. The scandal of how their parents had been killed had embarrassed the government enough to allow them to stay together, living in protective government housing. They had trained relentlessly, knowing that they were targets both for their parents' enemies and for anyone trying to take out or align themselves with the only remaining bloodline heirs. Sasuke had gone through the majority of his life trusting no one but his brother and ruthlessly taking out anyone who threatened them.

When Sasuke thought about finally facing the person who had destroyed their family, he had always assumed Itachi would be the one standing with him. He couldn't have imagined trusting anyone else enough. It didn't require trust simply to not change sides against such powerful opponents, but also the sheer strength and skill required to even be remotely useful in this confrontation. Yet he had no doubt that Naruto would see this through to the end with him, and be an asset rather than a liability if it went to hell midway through. Itachi had been surprised when Sasuke had come up with this plan, and the older brother hadn't liked it, but circumstances had taken the choice away from them both. Their hand had been forced, and Naruto was here while Itachi was still on his way.

Danzo's gaze shifted to Naruto, and narrowed. "You have brought an extremely dangerous and unstable prisoner here, under the guise of giving evidence. I will take the precautions I deem necessary."

"I'm not unstable," Naruto growled out. Sasuke could practically feel the coiled tension radiating from Naruto, and he knew Danzo was trying to get Naruto to make the first move, giving them an excuse to shoot him before he could speak whatever 'evidence' they thought Naruto had on them. With Naruto shackled, it would take a pretty big act of aggression to justify killing him, but evidently Danzo was willing to risk it to make sure Sarutobi didn't get to hear what Naruto had to say. The signal was so slight that Sasuke almost missed when Danzo shifted his finger slightly, and the guard at his right raised his weapon. Sasuke didn't hesitate to put a bullet in the soldier's head before the man's gun was even fully raised. Sasuke kept his finger on the trigger, the pressure just shy of discharging it a second time as he waited to see if the other soldiers would return fire or stand down.

Everyone in the room froze, waiting to see what would happen.

Danzo looked dispassionately at the dead soldier at his feet, nudging the body to the side and further away from his pristine shoes. "Tch. The rest of you hold your fire unless I give the order." Danzo clearly thought that there was still a chance to come through this with his power intact.

Sasuke was going to make sure that didn't happen.

Danzo locked eyes with him, and only Sasuke's ruthless self-control kept him from pulling the trigger a second time. But for them to fully win, Danzo had to be discredited, not just killed. If Danzo was merely killed, this would go down as a simple power struggle, and both Itachi and Sasuke would be tried for treason by Sarutobi. Danzo's subordinates would simply assume his role and take over. Sasuke would wait to kill him when the time was right.

Sasuke didn't lower his gun. "This is why I told you not to clutter the room with anyone else. Your soldiers are a liability, Danzo. They lack control." Sasuke let the words settle on Danzo's ego. It was no secret that the General still carried a chip on his shoulder about not being bloodline and being inferior to the Uchiha family in his role. Fugaku's men would not have shot a man in error, and Fugaku wouldn't have hidden behind his soldiers if he had wanted someone dead.

"I will not repeat myself, _Uchiha_. You are not the one who makes the decisions in this room," the General said tightly.

Sasuke smiled coldly. "Let's see how that changes after you hear what Naruto has to say. I have no trouble with more witnesses to his statement. It was merely a courtesy we were extending."

Danzo's eyes sharpened, first at Sasuke, then locked on Naruto.

Sasuke continued. "We were finally able to discover who was behind the assassination attempts on my family, and also who was behind the bombing in the city as well. Those both constitute acts of treason against the State. Even for someone in the highest office. Of course, for someone in such a position, protocol says that only someone of equal rank can formally make the charge and take them into custody. Which is why we needed both of you here."

Sasuke knew that he was throwing down the gauntlet with the statement, but he needed to rattle Danzo and get the man to make just one more mistake. He could still play off the guard's attempt at killing Naruto as 'not his fault'. Sasuke needed him to be more overt. But they were running out of time.

The door opened again, and Sasuke cursed under his breath. He would have a conversation with the guard that he had _ordered_ to not let anyone other than Sarutobi and Danzo in the room. Of all the people to throw into the mix and try to keep Naruto in control, _Orochimaru_ was not on Sasuke's list. From the corner of his eye, Sasuke could see Naruto's arms already straining against the shackles, likely with the desire to rip the warden's head from his shoulders. Not that Sasuke couldn't appreciate the sentiment, but Naruto needed to wait just a little bit longer. He could feel Danzo's gaze fixed on him, waiting for any small distraction so his men could fire on Naruto. Sasuke wasn't going to give them an opening.

"Orochimaru," Sasuke said, his gun still leveled at the elite soldiers flanking Danzo. "You were not invited to this debriefing."

"He is here on my orders," Sarutobi stated. "I cleared it with the guards you had terrified on your way in."

Sasuke could feel Orochimaru's gaze on him, but he ignored it, the way he had ignored it every time before. If Orochimaru tried anything, Sasuke was more than capable of handling it, unlike when he had been a child.

"You have my property. I am here to reclaim him. This one can be… difficult to control, at times."

Sasuke felt himself bristle at Orochimaru's words. Naruto was _not_ Orochimaru's. Naruto had agreed to be _Sasuke's_. He put a bit more tension on the trigger before risking a glance at Naruto. He could see the anger in the G-mod's face and knew Naruto wanted to be released. Sasuke needed him to stay bound, though, until he had what he needed from Danzo. But he could make use of Naruto's anger. Naruto needed to rattle some doors.

"Naruto." Sasuke looked back over at Danzo's assassins, but directed his voice towards Naruto, hoping he would take the cue.

"They're all in on it, Sasuke. Danzo looks at you and stinks of hatred and jealousy. He's only playing nice and waiting for you to lower your gun, and he's going to give the order for his men to shoot. Sarutobi over there," Naruto nodded his head toward the kind, grandfatherly-looking man. "Smells just straight up cold and ruthless. Everything about him is a total front, and it's no surprise he never let a single G-mod near him. We'd smell his lies a mile away. And Orochimaru is the one who's going to collect your DNA and add it to the mix. They'll have all the bloodlines then, under their control. We're sitting ducks here, Sasuke. They aren't going to let us out of here alive."

Sasuke didn't let his expression waver in the slightest, but his mind rapidly processed the information Naruto had given him, not questioning for a moment that Naruto was telling him the truth. He had never really understood why Sarutobi never stepped in when Danzo seemed to cross the line so many times in the past. He had thought the man was simply weak and easily manipulated… Danzo's puppet. Naruto's words indicated something quite different. Sasuke quickly recalculated his plan. Danzo was proud and liked to flaunt his power. Sasuke was fairly sure he could get him to make a mistake. Sarutobi… would be more problematic. Could Sasuke get Danzo to turn on Sarutobi?

"Sasuke told me about my parents. How they 'mysteriously' died just after my mother became pregnant. I looked at the file of Minato Namikaze's supposed training accident. No surprise the files were never released to the public. That was another one of your personally trained squads, wasn't it?"

Sasuke barely kept the smirk from his lips at Naruto's words. He must have picked up on Danzo's defensiveness about his soldiers. He doubted Naruto knew that Danzo had once sent an entire squad of his most elite assassins against a target and failed. And that Sasuke and Itachi had managed it with just the two of them the next day. Danzo had always disliked their family, but that had humiliated the General and made it personal against Itachi and Sasuke. After Naruto's goading, Sasuke had expected Danzo to crack, and was surprised when Sarutobi spoke instead.

"Did you think Sasuke brought you here to help you avenge your parents, Naruto?" the old man chuckled. "The Uchiha brothers have their own agenda, and you are not really a part of it, except for the evidence you can provide. The poorly thought-out assassination attempt simply gave them a chance to settle an old score." He turned his gaze to Danzo. "If Naruto has evidence that you were behind the attempt on the Uchiha brothers, I will not be able to overlook it. During the war, people were willing to tolerate your… methods. You've become a liability now. More and more leaders within the military are calling for you to step down."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Was Sarutobi trying to turn Naruto against him? Sarutobi hadn't even asked to hear what Naruto had to say before positioning himself to throw Danzo under the bus, likely to try to avoid any actual investigation that would turn up his own involvement. Sarutobi had fallen for their bait and was cutting his losses. It took Danzo a moment longer to catch on.

"You- you were the one who told me to launch the attack on them. You were the one who put me in contact with the mercenaries from -" Danzo cut himself off as realization slowly dawned on him. "You set me up."

Sarutobi lifted his hands slightly, as though it was all out of his control. "Don't try to blame me for your own actions."

"He's lying," Naruto's voice was urgent. "Sasuke, the old man is lying. He's just trying to cover his ass so you go for Danzo and not him."

Sasuke didn't think about how easily he accepted Naruto's assessment of the situation. Naruto had the same reasons for being here as he did. Sasuke was trying to decide whether to just shoot Danzo immediately or bait him into making the first move. He wasn't really sure what to do about Orochimaru, but he was pretty sure Naruto was going to take the man out as soon as Sasuke released him. It would be better if it were self-defense, but it wasn't absolutely necessary.

A small motion caught his eye as Sarutobi glanced at Orochimaru. Sasuke nearly shifted his weapon away from Danzo's men, but paused when he saw the only weapon the warden had was a small dart gun. Sasuke knew that standard procedure for tranq darts was to aim for the chest. They wouldn't be expecting Naruto to be wearing body armor. Sasuke kept his gun trained on Danzo's men, but with his other hand, he pressed the button to release Naruto's shackles. Orochimaru had just given Naruto free reign to take him out by making the first move. They hadn't gotten a confession from Sarutobi, but they basically had one from Danzo and that would be enough to justify his execution by Sasuke's hand. Sarutobi wasn't going to say more when he thought he could put all the blame on Danzo. Itachi would have to deal him later.

The dart embedded itself harmlessly into Naruto's vest, as Sasuke had expected, but the blond didn't react. Sasuke frowned, wondering why Naruto didn't do something. _Why was he still pretending to be bound?_

Danzo looked directly at Sasuke and smiled viciously, and Sasuke knew something had gone wrong. Danzo was no fool... he knew he was as good as dead. He would only smile if he knew for sure he was taking out the person who had brought him down. Before Sasuke had a chance to figure out what had happened, Naruto was charging straight at Orochimaru, but his hands were still bound behind his back. The shackles had not released. Danzo's men looked between themselves, clearly uncertain what to do now that the political winds had shifted so abruptly.

Sasuke had kept his eyes trained on Danzo and his men, but at the sound of the window breaking, he turned just in time to see Naruto smash the window from its frame and crash into Orochimaru. Most of the room's occupants paused to watch the G-mod's actions, frozen into inactivity by sheer confusion of what the man was doing by kicking out the window. Sasuke frowned, pressing the release button again, and wondering what the fuck Naruto was doing. Sure, the cuffs seemed to be jammed, but there had to be a more efficient way to kill Orochimaru than throwing him out a window, even with his hands bound.

"You better hope I don't survive, Uchiha." Naruto's voice was filled with hurt and betrayal as - to Sasuke's (and everyone else's) utter shock - he fucking _jumped_ out the third story window, dragging Orochimaru awkwardly with him with his still-bound hands.

"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted, but his words were cut off when a sharp crack and flash of electricity appeared.  It took him an instant to realize it had emanated from the shackles Naruto was wearing as Naruto disappeared from sight, plunging to the ground below. Sasuke whipped his gaze back to Danzo, to find the man looking at him gleefully. The expression was frozen on his face permanently as Sasuke put a bullet dead center in his forehead without hesitation, then dropped the other five guards to the ground before they could get a single shot off. Cold rage filled him, twisting with another emotion that he refused to acknowledge as he realized that there was a very good chance Naruto was lying dead at the base of the building.

He leveled his gun at Sarutobi, whose eyes were wide in fake innocence and dismay. Naruto's words rang in Sasuke's ears as he lowered his gun slightly, shooting the man in the thigh and sending him crumpling to the ground in a cry of shock and agony. "You are going to tell me _exactly_ what just happened when I get back."

Sasuke took off at a dead sprint, throwing the door open and shouting at the startled guards to place the Chancellor under guard until either he or Itachi arrived to take command. He slammed his palm down so hard on the scanner to unlock the door to the staircase that he left a crack in it, then leapt over the railing taking the steps about eight at a time.

He reached street level in under two minutes, his sharingan swirling. But all he could see was the shattered remains of Orochimaru's body, including singe marks on his flesh where Naruto's shackles had been pressed against him when they were activated. Itachi appeared beside him, the squad of loyal military elites he had recruited were already securing the Chancellor and his guards. They combed the surrounding streets and buildings, but no one had seen or heard anything useful.

Naruto had simply vanished.

"We've taken control of the TV and radio networks," Itachi said, scanning a report he'd received on his comms device. "We're to release the video footage of what happened in the Situation Room and announce the arrest of Chancellor Sarutobi."

Sasuke stood, staring at the bloody patch of concrete where Orochimaru's body had been. Sasuke's relief at not finding Naruto's dead body lying in the street was immediately replaced by frustration at lack of finding anything pointing to where he had gone.

"I've had the street and satellite video feeds sent to you. They appear to have been modified, but see what you can do with them," Itachi said before turning and walking up the steps into the Government Headquarters. All the soldiers standing there snapped to attention and saluted Itachi, already recognizing him as the new leader though nothing had been announced. Sasuke could see how Itachi's shoulders tightened slightly. History would probably record this as a successful revolution, but Sasuke knew his brother had never wanted the power. He had trusted Sarutobi in the past, but would now be the one crushing the Chancellor under his boot to find out the extent of his machinations. But Sasuke had confidence that Itachi would not shirk his duties, and would no doubt be named Chancellor within the week, with Sasuke filling Danzo's role.

Sasuke cast one last look up and down the cordoned off street before following his brother inside.

* * *

Itachi began the interrogation process with Chancellor Sarutobi while Sasuke combed through every rumor reported into their intelligence network in the last ten hours to see if anyone had seen or heard anything about a missing G-mod or who was trying to procure one. He didn't want to think about the possibility that Naruto might not have survived the fall. His stomach tightened at the memory of Naruto hurtling out the window. Sasuke had gotten down to street level as fast as humanly possible, but Naruto had already been gone.

Someone had taken him, and Sasuke was furious.

Even if Naruto had survived the fall, he would have been in no condition to get away on his own that quickly. On the list of people who wanted to take the top performing G-mod, there were a lot of shitty options and not very many good ones. But so far, there had been no word on the black market about designer blood being for sale, and all their sources in their past enemies' armies hadn't yielded even a whisper of a rumor of a G-mod being captured.

Sasuke was not _frantic_. He was simply getting back what belonged to him. Naruto had agreed to be _his_ weapon, and no one had the right to take him away from him, much less make it seem as though Sasuke had gone back on his word.

He looked up as Itachi walked into the room.

"Get anything?" Sasuke asked tersely, though he knew Sarutobi would take a while to break.

Itachi pulled another sleek metal chair up to the desk alongside Sasuke's, gracefully sitting down and glancing over Sasuke's screen. "I showed him the surveillance video clip that we released to the public. We started with the clip of Danzo saying Sarutobi was the one who ordered the hit on us. Even though the Chancellor knows that people dislike Danzo enough to overlook that, he also knows that the words won't go away easily. Danzo was appointed by him, and Danzo looked pretty convincing when he was saying it. The fact that it was said in front of hidden camera makes the words carry more weight."

"And it's hard to fight back against a dead man," Sasuke said with a small, cold smile.

Itachi gave a short nod. "We followed it with the clip that shows him stating that Orochimaru was in that room on his orders, then him signaling Orochimaru to shoot Naruto with the tranquilizer gun, zooming in on his face. We've issued a statement that the Chancellor is under house arrest pending investigation into the charges. We're running Naruto's photo side-by-side with Minato's, along with facts we already had on Sarutobi's approval of Orochimaru's research and Minato and Kushina's suspicious deaths."

Sasuke frowned, running through all the holes people could shoot in their story. "It's too loose. The only concrete thing that tied Orochimaru to Sarutobi was the fact that Sarutobi appointed him as head of the medical research facility. He delegated the oversight of that program do Danzo."

Itachi smiled. "That's what makes that signal he gave Orochimaru so… problematic."

Sasuke blamed his preoccupation on looking for Naruto that he hadn't seen it earlier. Nonverbal signals spoke of a close and _recent_ working relationship, as well as an understanding of what the other party was capable of. Neither of which Sarutobi should have if he had truly delegated everything to Danzo and stepped back like he claimed. "So we have leverage."

"Danzo's statement also gets you off the hook for shooting the General point blank. There will be a hearing, but he confessed to setting up the assassination attempt on video, and the penalty for that is death. You're a high enough ranking officer to carry it out without needing Sarutobi's approval. And, of course, you already had mine." Itachi's eyes glinted with dark approval. Neither brother had forgotten who had been behind their parents' murders, even if they had never been able to prove it.

Sasuke gave a slight nod, but Itachi hadn't told him anything he didn't already know. He wouldn't have killed Danzo on camera if he wasn't sure it would be viewed as justified. "Does Sarutobi knows where Naruto is?"

Itachi's lips twisted slightly into a frown. "No. He seems to be under the impression that Naruto is dead, and is now trying to imply that he had helped Naruto break out so that he could block Danzo's plot. He's grabbing at straws to get us to drop the investigation. Danzo's plan was to probably have Naruto think you betrayed him, then he would try to kill you and his soldiers would have an excuse to shoot you both. Naruto's… unpredictability of taking Orochimaru and jumping out the window wasn't something he had counted on."

Sasuke breathed a slight chuckle at the thought of Naruto messing up the man's complicated, multilayered plans yet again.

"I didn't enlighten the Chancellor as to Naruto's current status," Itachi continued. "It makes the case worse for him if he basically signaled Naruto's death. It's also making him bolder about the lies he's spinning, which Naruto will be able to refute if we find him. We'll let Sarutobi have all the rope he wants for now."

" _If?_ We'll find him," Sasuke said tersely. There was no 'if' about it. He was going to find Naruto.

Itachi shot him a dry look. "We found a second remote for Naruto's shackles on Orochimaru's body."

Sasuke released a slow breath. At least he would be able to explain what happened when he found Naruto. But it didn't diminish the anger he felt at what Orochimaru, Sarutobi, and Danzo had done.

Itachi continued update Sasuke on what he'd learned. "According to the medical facility records, this remote was used on the stronger G-mods for 'training'. It's some sort of master controller, and only the warden was authorized to have it. Looks like it was capable of controlling up to twenty shackles at once, over-riding any signals from any other remote."

A muscle in Sasuke's jaw clenched. He'd seen the detailed reports of how the shackles were used in 'training'. "At least Naruto had the satisfaction of taking him out with him," Sasuke murmured. "But it doesn't get us closer to who took him."

"If it had been one of the other governments, we'd have heard something about it by now. This couldn't have been planned. There wasn't time. Surprise news of this magnitude would have caused some ripples somewhere."

Sasuke gave a short nod of agreement. "And it wasn't Sarutobi. Could Danzo or Orochimaru have arranged something without him knowing?"

Itachi frowned. "It's possible, but unlikely. We didn't give them enough time to plan."

Sasuke breathed out in frustration. Naruto had no relatives and had spent almost his entire life locked up in a high security facility. He didn't have connections in the city, or people who knew him. Could it have been another G-mod? Naruto had been in contact with at least one. Sasuke thought back to the odd look on Naruto's face when they'd been climbing the stairs. Had he scented someone? The thought of Naruto holding back something like that from Sasuke had his jaw clenching.

He looked up to find Itachi's eyes on him, likely reading every nuance that crossed his face. "This is far from the first time you've lost a member of a military team during a mission."

"Your point?"

Itachi tilted his head slightly. "You seem quite bothered by it."

"Naruto is a valuable military asset," Sasuke stated brusquely.

"Hm. It's true that having Naruto on our side would help settle things. The people loved his parents, and it will give them something to focus on other than losing their 'grandfather' Chancellor. But I don't think that's what has you concerned."

"I'm not interested in what you think, Itachi."

"Of course you are, Sasuke. Just like I am always interested in what you think. Other people aren't nearly as interesting."

Sasuke just barely kept himself from scowling. It would only encourage Itachi more if he knew he was getting under Sasuke's skin. He wasn't really sure what Itachi would make of the… odd relationship he had with Naruto. He didn't want to explain things he hadn't really had time to think through himself yet.

"It is interesting that Sarutobi and Danzo suspected that you did not intend to turn Naruto over to them. That's why they had Orochimaru come with the remote." Itachi looked back down at Sasuke's screen, pretended to be reading one of the reports. "Any reason they would have thought that? I spent some time reading through Naruto's file. He's known for being unpredictable and unstable… not following orders. Not to mention the fact that he broke out of the research facility weeks ago and had gone rogue."

"What are you asking me, Itachi?"

"You never really explained exactly why it was that Naruto showed up the day we were attacked," Itachi remarked, his legs wide as he leaned back further in his chair, but his intense gaze was at sharp odds with his relaxed tone. "You simply assured me that he had no advance knowledge of the plot or information on who was behind it."

"I told you. He followed me that day, saw the snipers, and reacted."

"But you never told me why he was following you in the first place. He'd broken out of prison nearly two weeks before the attack. Why wait until that day to confront you?"

"You'd have to ask Naruto."

"Hm," Itachi murmured in the way he did when he already had the answer but was pretending to think about it. "Having watched the video footage from when you visited him in the medical facility - it seemed as though Naruto had taken an interest in you."

Sasuke remembered the way Naruto had circled him, his eyes red, his breath warm on the back of Sasuke's neck. He'd taunted Sasuke about the guards bringing him in to mate, and Sasuke had thought - at the time - that Naruto was just trying to throw him off. It had worked, in a way. Sasuke was used to being the predator in the room, not being circled and eyed like prey. He was used to people fearing him, especially people in cages. Naruto had done the opposite, and it had piqued Sasuke's curiosity about the man.

"You saw that tape. All he said was that he would see me around. Evidently he meant it."

"So Naruto just coincidentally showed up _that day_ and offered himself as… a sort of mercenary? One would think that - as a fugitive - his first objective would be to get as far away from here as possible. There are many countries who would happily hire him as a soldier, and not be hunting him down to throw him back in a cell at the same time."

"I never had any intentions of putting Naruto back in that cell."

"But he couldn't have known that. And I doubt he did it for the money."

Itachi was right, but it annoyed him that his brother had already figured that out. "Oh?"

"The money you set up for him was less than what he would have received had he joined the other side in the assassination attempt. The price on my head alone is more than that. With you thrown in as well..."

"Fuck you," Sasuke said, annoyed at his death being 'thrown in' as a side bonus to his older brother's, even in theory. But he knew Itachi had a point. After all, Sasuke had intentionally set the amount less than the bounty, to see if Naruto was really as unmotivated by money as he seemed.

Sasuke knew his brother well enough to know that Itachi was not going to let the matter drop. Especially not when Itachi was obviously trying to decide how much of a threat Naruto was likely to be after what happened.

"He must have wanted something. Why did he help you?"

Sasuke tried not to react outwardly as he recalled exactly what Naruto had asked from him in terms of payment.

_"I could still be your weapon, Sasuke. But you'd have to ask me for it."_

_Sasuke glanced around at the bodies littering the alleyway. Adrenaline was still coursing through him, his senses heightened. He should have died. The attack had been meticulously planned. Even with his and Itachi's combined prowess, they would not have survived this without Naruto's warning shot. Why would the G-mod have done that? Naruto had broken out of his cell, and Sasuke was a senior ranking officer in the government who had put him there, brother to the man who had recaptured him. It had only been hours ago that Sasuke had been trying to kill Naruto on the rooftop next to his apartment, where Naruto had apparently been stalking him since escaping. Sasuke had assumed it had been for revenge, but… none of this made any sense after the events of the day._

_Naruto could have killed him on the rooftop by his apartment, and instead he'd let him go. And let him get his weapon. Even if Naruto hadn't wanted blood on his hands directly (which Sasuke had a hard time imagining), Naruto could have joined with Sasuke's attackers or simply let the ambush play out. Either way, the enemy would have gladly taken Naruto on and gotten him out of the country. Why fight on Sasuke's side?_

_He didn't understand, but he also wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Sasuke needed allies, and Naruto was an incredibly powerful one. One that Sasuke was sure was not aligned with his enemies. Sasuke still wasn't sure of Naruto's motives, but money was a good place to start, though Sasuke had no idea why Naruto would think Sasuke could pay him more than the enemy could._

_When it came to treason, money was usually no object._

_"I'm assuming you have an account set up. If you give me the number, I can wire you payment for today's… services." Sasuke watched Naruto's face closely, and was not expecting the blank look of surprise on Naruto's face when he mentioned money._

_"Account? Like… bank account?" Naruto asked, looking like the very question had confused him._

_"Tch. Don't play stupid." Sasuke's eyes roved over Naruto's face, searching for any sign of deception, perplexed when he found none. How was that possible? What the hell was Naruto after if not revenge or money? Sasuke didn't like not knowing. It was dangerous if you didn't know your opponent's real objective. He couldn't control Naruto if he didn't understand him._

_Naruto chuckled, the sound of it warm - almost affectionate - and surely out of place to hear from a man whom Sasuke had tried to put a bullet in just a few hours ago… a man who had just ruthlessly killed nearly a dozen highly trained assassins like it was nothing. "No. I don't need your money, Uchiha."_

_Sasuke's eyes narrowed in suspicion, and his grip tightened on his gun as he took a step back, raising his gun so it pointed directly between Naruto's eyes. The G-mod didn't even flinch. Naruto's pupils dilated and Sasuke was fairly sure the look on the man's face was closer to lust than fear, and Sasuke found himself fascinated by the reaction. "Then what do you want? No one does this kind of thing for free."_

_"What do I want?" Naruto seemed to honestly not have an answer, which confused and unsettled Sasuke further. "Hm. How about…," Naruto grinned, leaning forward so the muzzle of Sasuke's gun touched the center of his forehead. He tilted his head, and Sasuke found himself sliding the gun along Naruto's cheek, watching how the smooth, dull glint of the gun's barrel contrasted with the soft, tan of Naruto's skin. He found the sight oddly compelling. Naruto's eyes slid half-closed at the touch, and Sasuke felt a building heat in his groin to the way Naruto looked at him. He could kill Naruto right now. He could shoot this incredibly powerful soldier right in the head, and Naruto would let him. The knowledge was making his dick hard._

_Sasuke was familiar with the usual after-effects of battle, and found perfunctory release in the state-appointed whores that were sent to him for that purpose. But this was a different sort of arousal than what he was used to. It felt more dangerous and out-of-control. It put him on edge._

_Despite knowing what Naruto's lethal hands were capable of, Sasuke didn't pull back when Naruto slowly reached his free hand forward, wiping a smear of blood from Sasuke's cheek with the pad of his thumb before returning the finger to his mouth. The sight of Naruto's pink lips wrapped around the finger that held Sasuke's blood… the way the blue eyes looked at him with an almost feverish possessiveness had Sasuke's dick fully hard, pushing painfully against the zipper of his uniform pants, something that usually took even the most experienced whores quite a bit of coaxing if they even managed it at all._

_In his shock at his own reaction, he almost missed Naruto's next words "... how about the next time you use a hooker, you do it bareback. I know you always go through the government service, and their girls are clean and on high power birth control."_

_"What?" Sasuke blinked. He could… not have heard that right. His mind, usually so agile, simply stopped to re-process everything that had just happened over the past thirty minutes, looking for the critical element that it had missed to make this all make sense._

_Naruto stepped back, breaking the contact between Sasuke's gun and his skin. The sounds of drones approaching made them both look up._

_"You usually don't touch 'em enough to leave much of a taste behind. Do that, and we'll call it even."_

_With that, the G-mod had disappeared, leaving Sasuke standing here with his dick hard and having to deal with the bloody clean-up and the annoying questions. Sasuke was skilled enough that he had no trouble removing the physical evidence of Naruto's presence from the scene before the first soldiers arrived. He issued sharp, clear orders to the soldiers who showed up to process the scene and hunt for any survivors, then he went down to headquarters to give his statement._

_But his mind kept coming back to Naruto's request, and what it meant. Sasuke knew he should be disturbed by it, but somehow he wasn't. Naruto was deadly, one of the few people outside of Itachi that Sasuke honestly wasn't sure he could win against. Replaying the scene from the rooftop that morning, when Naruto had pinned him down and LICKED him, and what had just happened here, there was no doubt that Naruto desired him, sexually. The fact that the man appeared to have been stalking Sasuke, watching him, made it clear it was more than a casual interest. Had Naruto broken out just for… this? The thought of the deadly G-mod being that obsessed with Sasuke gave Sasuke a feeling of power, not disgust._

_Naruto knew Sasuke slept with hookers. Naruto had probably WATCHED Sasuke fuck them. And what Naruto wanted in payment was to be able to suck Sasuke's cum out of one of them. Sasuke had never really thought about sex all that much, simply following what was expected to pass as 'normal' behavior with the regular psych screenings Sarutobi insisted all of his top soldiers get. He had never felt sexual desire attached to a particular person… they were just the vehicles provided for the act of release. But as he stood in the narrow alley filled with blood and bodies, bullets and broken glass, he wondered what it would be like to fuck Naruto… if Naruto would let him. The idea seemed to take root in his mind._

_He decided he was more than happy to meet Naruto's asked price._

"Care to share with the class?" Itachi asked drily.

Sasuke's eyes snapped back into focus, and he glared at his brother. "Not particularly."

"Did you watch the video of your visit to the research facility?" Itachi pressed.

"I didn't need to." Sasuke shot his brother an annoyed look. "Eidetic memory, just like you." His voice had an edge to it, but Itachi's calm expression didn't falter.

"If you'd pulled up the video, you would have seen the report that Orochimaru made about it. You know that all the higher level G-mods had monitoring devices in their necks."

"I'm assuming Naruto got rid of his, or they would have been able to track him down within hours of his escape."

"It wasn't just for tracking. They monitored his biometrics as well."

Sasuke arched a brow, not sure what this had to do with anything, but Itachi wasn't one to make idle chatter, so he simply waited for his brother to make his point.

"One of Orochimaru's biggest frustrations was the ban on further genetic manipulations after the treaty was signed ending hostilities. They only way he could get more super-soldiers to play with was if they bred 'naturally'."

"Naruto mentioned it. I read his files before I saw him. Naruto never showed any interest in sex, even when they drugged him." Sasuke felt a sharp spike of smugness and possessiveness at the knowledge. Though the memory of the sight of Naruto in the bed of twisted sheets from when he'd gotten his hands on the hooker Sasuke had 'paid him with' brought an edge of anger. But this wasn't the time to think about that.

"The device in Naruto's neck measured everything from blood pressure to hormone levels. The first time it ever registered anything even remotely approaching sexual arousal was when you stepped into his cell."

Sasuke met Itachi's gaze. "And?"

Itachi actually blinked. "I see. This is not news to you. You are aware that a rogue G-mod is sexually attracted to you, and possibly broke out of a maximum security military facility because of it. And you… used that?"

"I didn't have a lot of options," Sasuke said tersely. "You were out of the country, and anyone else was reporting to either Danzo or Sarutobi. Naruto agreed to be my weapon. I set up an account and paid him for his services." Sasuke's own attraction to the man was none of his brother's business.

"How soon after he broke out did he contact you?"

"I'd had the feeling of being followed on and off for almost a week before I finally spotted him after a mission. He was watching me from the rooftop. I chased after him, but he got away."

"You chased after a G-mod without back-up?" Itachi, his voice showing a hint of real anger for the first time. It was a clear violation of protocol.

"He could have taken me out at any time before I'd noticed him," Sasuke replied, repeating what Naruto had told him on the rooftop. "I didn't know specifically who he was when I first spotted him. I just knew someone was following me."

Itachi shot him a hard look, knowing full well that Sasuke would have given chase even if he'd known who Naruto was. Sasuke's over-confidence had been a subject of arguments in the past, but this wasn't the time. "So the next time you saw him was when he intervened in the ambush?"

Sasuke hesitated. Itachi could get a bit… overprotective, and he definitely was not going to like Sasuke's answer. But Itachi would find out, eventually, so Sasuke decided to just rip the bandaid off and tell him.

"No. I knew he was watching me. I figured he was also watching my apartment, so I set up a trap and waited for him. We fought on the rooftop next to my apartment."

Itachi's flat-eyed look told Sasuke _exactly_ what his brother thought about Sasuke handling this without backup, or - more specifically - without letting Itachi know.

"And you won? Without killing him?" Itachi asked, his surprised skepticism making Sasuke bristle slightly. Aside from Itachi, Sasuke had never lost in single combat to anyone until Naruto.

"No," he admitted grudgingly.

"Then?"

Sasuke shifted. "He had me pinned down. Then I got the message from you that you needed me to meet you immediately for a mission. Naruto let me go." Sasuke didn't add that Naruto had licked Sasuke's neck, or that he had been completely disarmed and Naruto had inexplicably let him retrieve his weapon before leaving. "He must have followed me. The rest you know."

Itachi studied him for a moment. "Somehow I doubt that."

Sasuke arched an eyebrow, unrepentant. Itachi had his own hidden demons. Sasuke felt no need to explain his. "You know the part you need to."

"Do I?" Itachi countered. "Naruto made a pretty clear threat towards you, Otouto. How am I supposed to weigh the seriousness of it if I don't know what is going on between you?"

Sasuke's face closed off. "I will be the one to deal with Naruto." The anger and betrayal in Naruto's voice played back through Sasuke's head, but he was going to settle this.

"Sasuke -"

"Naruto is _mine_ to deal with. You will not touch him. I will find him and I will talk to him. He won't be a threat."

Itachi met Sasuke's heated gaze unflinchingly. Finally, he rolled his eyes, but gave a small nod. "Fine. If you are going to insist on taking him alone, you will need this." He handed Sasuke a dart gun that looked exactly like the one Orochimaru had used. "It has a tranquilizer that is specifically designed to work almost instantly on G-mods. If you want him to listen to you without trying to kill you first. I suggest you put him out and restrain him."

Sasuke looked at the weapon that Itachi held with contempt, but in the end, he took it.

He was going to talk to Naruto, and Naruto was going to listen. Now he just needed to find him.

* * *

Sasuke paced in his apartment. It had been five days since Naruto had disappeared. _Five._ _Days._ Sasuke had never failed a mission. Not once. He wasn't going to let this be the first. It had become clear that Naruto hadn't been taken by his own government or one of their former enemies, but Sasuke had also been tracking the G-mods that had escaped with Naruto. He knew that Naruto had been in touch with at least one of them, and - of any ally Naruto might have made - another G-mod would be the most likely to have the skills to actually get him out of there without being seen. Naruto's 'friend' had hacked into the systems before, so it was likely the same person. Unfortunately, whoever was doing the cyberattacks was skilled enough to cover their tracks quite well. Sasuke hadn't been able to find them, and they had been lying low since Naruto disappeared, not giving Sasuke anything to work with.

He was still trying to pinpoint exactly which G-mod it was. More than half of them had already been re-captured, a few had been killed, and a handful had made it out and had been sighted out of the country… far enough away that they would not be likely to have been involved. There were only three that were truly unaccounted for. Sasuke had been trying to research any possible connections they might have to Naruto or to civilians, but Orochimaru had taken the information about the family history of the G-mods with him when he died. Not that Sasuke expected to find a G-mod with a living relative, but it was a place to start. Someone with the skills to hack the cameras and satellites at the same time that they retrieved Naruto from when he fell. There had to be at least two people involved, and none of the G-mods had training in cyber warfare. Who would you trust to engage in espionage or treason outside of family? A lover? The thought of Naruto having taken a lover caused Sasuke to feel annoyed, but he shut the thought down. There would be time to talk about where Naruto had been once Sasuke found him.

Sasuke had added hidden sensors and cameras to the warehouse, tunnels, and Naruto's old apartment just in case he showed up there. Given that he thought Sasuke had turned on him, though, Sasuke didn't expect him to. Itachi had insisted in amping up the security at Naruto's apartments, with extra guards, cameras in the streets and constant satellite surveillance. Sasuke had been pissed about it. He had hoped Naruto might come and confront him, but the extra cameras would ensure he didn't. It would only reinforce Naruto's belief that Sasuke had betrayed him.

But all of this would only matter if Naruto had survived the fall, something that - to Sasuke's incredible frustration - they hadn't been able to confirm either way. The funds Sasuke had set up for Naruto hadn't been touched. If Naruto were alive, he would either be gunning for Sasuke or getting the fuck out of the city. Both of those options would require funding. The longer the money sat untouched, the more likely it was that Naruto hadn't survived the fall. Sasuke's gut clenched in a hollowness that he told himself was anger.

_It wasn't supposed to have gone down like that._

Itachi had been riding him to face up to the possibility that Naruto hadn't survived, but Sasuke had been digging his heels in. It had nothing to do with him not wanting Naruto to have died thinking Sasuke betrayed him. It was simply that Sasuke had very few allies he could trust, and he didn't want to lose one.

But the longer time went on with no movement on the account and no sightings of the missing G-mod everywhere, even with his face plastered on the news every fucking night, the more tense Sasuke got. He was grasping at straws.

A knock sounded on his door.

Sasuke walked over and opened it, turning on the lights when he realized it had grown dark. He nodded at the women who was waiting at the door, letting her in. Sasuke knew better than to believe that Itachi wouldn't intervene in his search for Naruto if given the opportunity. His brother still hadn't decided how much of a threat Naruto would be if he really felt betrayed by Sasuke. All of Sasuke's possible leads on Naruto's location had to be followed where his overprotective big brother wouldn't find out about them until after-the-fact. So Sasuke hadn't asked for the woman standing in his foyer specifically. He had never expressed any sort of preference for the hookers they sent him, and it would be an immediate red flag to Itachi.

Sasuke had simply waited until she was the one they had sent. The first one had shown up the day Naruto had vanished, and Sasuke had simply turned her away, too busy to deal with her. She had held no allure to him, and she was not one of the hookers who had been with Naruto. She was useless.

Sasuke was relieved he wouldn't have to wait another few days to try again. This time, the government had sent the one he had wanted. The woman Naruto had taken back to his apartment after Sasuke had fulfilled his request. Sasuke shut down the flash of anger he felt remembering just how long he'd had to wait while she was in Naruto's bed being fucked by him before he'd finally lost patience and had the woman called in for another appointment.

The woman seemed to hesitate, as though picking up on Sasuke's mood, but followed him inside. He walked over to his bedroom window, looking out into the darkness at the alley where Naruto used to watch him from. He didn't need to look at the feeds from the security cameras to tell him that there was no one there now. The woman approached him, asking him what he'd like.

Sasuke turned to look at her, feeling a complete absence of sexual attraction for her. It was odd how he had never really noticed it before. Somehow, it only made him feel even more frustrated at Naruto's disappearance. Naruto had started things in the warehouse, then just walked away. Sasuke hadn't pushed it at the time. They had needed to stay focused on the mission.  Sasuke hadn't expected that Naruto would just disappear, or be so hard to track down. But Sasuke had no intention of just letting him go.

"I want to ask you a few questions," Sasuke started, earning a slightly worried look from the woman. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone what we speak of. I suggest you do the same."

It was a long-shot, but the woman was one of the few people in the city Naruto had spent any time with. Though a prostitute would have no resources to rescue an injured fugitive, much less hack the government security systems to alter the video feeds, she was one of the few people that Sasuke knew Naruto had spent time with. He wasn't going to over-look it.

But in the end, she didn't know anything. It was another dead end.

* * *

It was the next morning when Sasuke was awoken early by a low buzz on his phone. He sat up immediately when he saw the notification that had flashed up on his screen. He had set the account for Naruto up in the standard way they did with all informants - with a friendly bank that would notify him of any changes to the account's status. Sasuke put down the report he had been reading and opened the notification, reading it quickly while he threw the blankets back, heading for his closet to get his clothes.

The account hadn't just been accessed. It had been drained and closed.

"Fuck," Sasuke quickly punched up the personal cell number for his contact at the bank. "I want to know where the funds for account 097642 went and who accessed them."

He felt a rush of adrenaline. _Naruto had survived the fall._

In order for someone to access the account, they would need to know the number. Sasuke had been holding the comms device he'd given to Naruto, so no one could have stumbled on it looking through his stuff. Naruto was alive, and Sasuke was going to find him. No matter how good the hacker was that Naruto was working with, they couldn't cover their tracks if Sasuke had an inside man.

Sasuke's jaw clenched. There were many things he was going to ask the rogue G-mod when he found him. Why Naruto hadn't told him when he'd scented the other G-mod. Why he had immediately believed that Sasuke had been the one to activate the shackles.

Why he had walked away that night in the warehouse.

Sasuke stalked over to his weapons closet. He cast his eye over the small arsenal he kept, a frown marring his brow. He would need special equipment if he was going to take down the top-ranking G-mod. His mind was already turning over options and variables, his blood thrumming in anticipation of a challenge.

Finally. He had a mission to plan.

* * *

Sasuke had spent the last month tracking Naruto down, a fact that both annoyed and impressed him. Naruto had covered his trail well. Being able to follow the bank transfer had only gotten him partway there, since Naruto had immediately withdrawn the funds again, in person this time, and disappeared. There had been no electronic trail to trace. But that was fine. Sasuke was a hunter at heart and had immediately shifted gears into tracking him down. It got easier as soon as he realized he was looking for three people, and had descriptions of them.

The daughter of a senior government official had disappeared the same time Naruto had, and - once Sasuke had read her profile and seen her computer background - it hadn't been hard to realize that she was the one behind the hacking. Digging a little further had revealed that she was actually the sister of one of the escaped G-mods, though the records had mostly been destroyed. Her father had basically sold their youngest son to Danzo and Orochimaru for an advancement in his position, then tried to bury the record of the boy ever existing.

Needless to say, the man was now rotting in prison. Sasuke and Itachi wanted no weak links in their upper ranks. If a man would sell out once, he'd do it again. Itachi was going through the government ranks one by one, ripping out the corruption by the roots. Sasuke was focused on their foreign network, tightening alliances where he could and deepening their spy network when he couldn't. More than once he had wished he had Naruto with him to help feel out a situation. Sasuke was good at spotting deception, but Naruto could literally _smell_ it.

And if Sasuke mainly focused his work on countries where he had leads that Naruto might have been spotted in, then that was his business. Itachi had given up on complaining about it. Once Sasuke had Naruto back, he'd focus on the countries Itachi wanted him to. And if all went well with his current plan, that would be very soon.

Sasuke learned from his mistakes. The first time he had hunted Naruto - back on the darkened rooftop outside his apartment two months ago - he had only had a close-range weapon and no scent blockers. Naruto had been able to tell his every move and evade it with ease. This time, Sasuke was wearing tailor-made scent blockers, with none of the base scent that Naruto had been able to detect on the others. He had replaced the small dart gun Itachi had given him with a modified sniper rifle. The fact that he was shooting a dart and not a bullet meant it still wasn't as long-range of a weapon as he would like, but he wouldn't have to be standing in the same room as Naruto before he could use it.

Sasuke moved silently along the rooftop, his night-vision visor allowing him to scan the area without drawing attention to himself once the sun had fully set. The city Naruto had settled in in a country far to the north was nothing like the war-torn, military-run one he had fled from. There were no drones here, no squads of military police, to cameras lining the streets. It had the feel of a quiet town, rather than a bustling city. Sasuke wondered briefly if that was what his home had been before the decades of war, but brushed the thought off as irrelevant. Naruto had chosen this place because it would be harder to find him… no electronic surveillance to track him down. It was smart, and it had taken Sasuke at least two extra weeks to find him because of it.

Once he had confirmed that Naruto was in this particular town _,_ Sasuke had made arrangements. He had rented a small house for a week on the outskirts of town four days ago, and set up everything he would need. It was private and easy to secure on the off-chance that Naruto or one of his two companions found him before he found them. He had spent the past few days following Naruto, watching his movements. Tracking him. He wanted to find out if Naruto was in contact with any foreign governments or any of Danzo or Sarutobi's supporters that had managed to escape.

But he had found nothing. It seemed as though Naruto was just laying low. The G-mod went to the grocery store. He went running. He seemed to be doing random handyman jobs around the small city, probably while trying to sort out a fake set of papers that would let him work legally. Sasuke wondered if the people who hired him knew that Naruto could level the entire town if he chose to. The G-mod seemed to almost be _reveling_ in the normalcy of civilian life, smiling and waving cheerfully to people he met on the street. Though sometimes, Naruto would look south, towards the city he had fled, and a look of restlessness would flash through the blue eyes.

Sasuke followed him, taking pictures of everyone who spoke with Naruto, checking their profiles against known enemies and spies, but there was never anyone of interest. Every once in a while, Naruto would pause, going utterly still before drawing a deep breath. Sasuke would freeze, not even breathing until Naruto shook himself and continued on.

It was only a matter of time before Naruto spotted him. Sasuke decided he'd waited long enough to make sure that the G-mod wasn't working against him and Itachi. It was time to make his move. He had everything prepared.

Sasuke watched Naruto for a minute or two more, then lifted his rifle. His hands were practiced and steady as he focused the crosshairs of the sight on a familiar blond head. He wasn't sure if Naruto was still wearing the body armor or not regularly as a precaution, so he aimed for his upper arm and not his torso. It was late, and the streets were mostly empty. He waited for a lull in the foot traffic, when the streets were momentarily deserted. Naruto paused, seeming to sense something, and Sasuke took advantage of his target's moment of stillness.

He pulled the trigger just as Naruto's head snapped around, blue eyes locking on his then widening in shock in the dim evening light.

* * *

_To be continued..._

**A/N** \- Next chapter starts with Naruto's pov. And you get to see what Sasuke 'arranged' for him in the house he rented. And what Naruto has to say about it. ;-)


	10. Top predator?

**A/N:**  OMG this chapter almost killed me.  I can’t put here WHY or it will spoil, but I’ll leave it in a note at the end LOL.  As I mentioned in my post, this chapter is UN-BETA’d.  Please let me know if you find mistakes!  I proofed it twice, but I never catch everything, since I know what I mean in my head and sometimes just assume it made it onto the page the way I wanted even if it didn’t LOL.

 **Warnings** :  Cum marking. Cum as lube.  Barebacking.  Moderately hard core bondage.  Unrealistic sexual stamina and refractory periods (but that’s what’s so fun about this universe….).  Extreme possessive and obsessive behavior.  I do not consider the sex in this chapter to be dubcon or noncon, but if you have very sensitive triggers to this sort of thing DO NOT READ THIS.  It gets close to the line in parts.

* * *

 

 **Chapter 10 - Who's top dog?** (the question many of you have been asking me)

* * *

 

Naruto’s first thought was that his shoulders were sore.  He tried to shift them but they didn’t move.  His eyes snapped open, coming fully awake at the realization that he was bound.  He felt a flash of relief when the room he was in clearly didn’t belong to the medical research facility or any other sort of sterile, government-looking building he’d ever been in.  

It was a spacious bedroom, with beige walls, a high ceiling, and a large bed.  He appeared to be standing in the middle of the room, bound to some sort of metal scaffolding.  Coils of soft, very thick rope were wound around and around his forearms and calves, the tension perfectly balanced so that he had basically zero mobility, but not enough to restrict the circulation to his hands or feet.  He was still wearing the jeans and long-sleeved grey T-shirt that he’d been in on his way home.  The only thing that seemed to have been removed were his boots and socks, though Naruto would bet that the blade he carried in the hidden sheath in his waistband was also gone.  He strained at the ropes, but they held fast.  He pushed against the metal, using his full strength to try to break the frame apart, but it didn’t budge.

Tried to get his bearings, but his mind was still foggy from whatever drug had put him out.  Where the fuck was he?  He tried to think back to the last thing he could remember, but his thoughts were muddled.  He had been coming back from a small job he’d had downtown.  He’d been catching weird traces of something in the air for the past several days, just a hint of something unsettling, but nothing he could identify.  He’d been feeling on edge and then… there had been someone on the rooftop.

He drew a slow breath, trying to force the rest of the memory, looking for any clue as to where he was.  The familiar scent registered a moment before the door opened to Naruto’s left, and the man Naruto had been trying to keep himself from thinking of walked through the door.  Naruto’s eyes flared red as anger and hollowness and desire and a mess of other confusing emotions crashed through him.

“You,” Naruto growled out, straining against the ropes. “You fucking _asshole!_ ”

“Hn.  You’re awake.  I was wondering how long it would take,” Sasuke said calmly, clearly confident of the ropes binding Naruto as he closed the door behind him and walked into the room to stand in front of Naruto.  His eyes never left Naruto’s.  Naruto bared his teeth as the man approached him, lunging at the restraints.  Sasuke didn’t even flinch. “They said that the tranquilizer would put you out for three hours, but I knew you’d be up faster.”  

Naruto gritted his teeth as the elite officer slowly circled around Naruto as though admiring his handiwork.

Naruto tracked him as far as he could, but couldn’t turn his head enough to see when Sasuke was directly behind him.  “What do you want?  I’m not going back to the facility, Sasuke.  You should have used a real bullet and not a dart if that’s what you’re here for.”

The soft huff of a laugh that sounded from behind him had goosebumps racing along Naruto’s spine, but he suppressed the telltale shiver.  Sasuke had crossed the line.  Whatever attraction Naruto’s body might still feel for him, he wasn’t going to let it fool him again.

“I think you made your opinion about going back perfectly clear when you jumped out the fucking _window_ , Naruto.”  Sasuke’s voice was flat, but there was an undercurrent of stress and anger that Naruto noticed when he spoke.

“What, did I get you in trouble with Sarutobi when I didn’t play along with your plan to sell me out?  I’d say ‘sorry’, but _I’m_ not a liar,” Naruto spat.

“I didn’t lie to you, Naruto.”  Sasuke’s voice was cold steel as he met Naruto’s red, angry gaze dead-on as he walked around to stand directly in front of Naruto.   If Naruto’s hands weren’t bound by the coils of one-inch-thick rope, they would be around Sasuke’s throat in a second and both men knew it.  “You could smell it on me if I were lying.”

The words caused a spike of hurt and vulnerability to shoot through Naruto.  “Yeah.  That’s what I used to think.”  Naruto let his eyes drift momentarily closed to shield them from Sasuke’s penetrating gaze.  “How do you do it?  Emotions are chemical.  How do you change that?”  Naruto kept his voice neutral.  Until he figured a way out of the bindings, he was at Sasuke’s mercy.  Sasuke would either kill him or he wouldn’t, but Naruto wasn’t going to let him see just how much his betrayal had hurt.  

Because _fuck_ him.

Sasuke was silent for so long that Naruto had no choice but to open his eyes.  Sasuke was looking at him intently, his expression unreadable.  “Is that what you think? That I was going to use you as a bargaining chip to get Sarutobi to call off his dogs, and manipulated my own _scent_ to do it?”

Naruto gave a humorless chuckle.  “What am I supposed to think, Sasuke?  We had a fucking _deal_.  You knew I didn’t want to wear the shackles.  You knew _why_ , but you talked me into it.  You knew you had a hold over me.  You promised you’d let me go once we were past security and you _didn’t._  Instead, you tried to take me out so Orochimaru would have no problems dragging me back to the lab.  But I wasn’t going back, Sasuke...  I’m not going back.  You made a mistake coming after me.  I was willing to walk away and let it go.  The next time I get out, I’m not going to go without a fight.  And I will take you down with me if you get in my way.”

Sasuke arched a brow, and Sasuke’s scent shifted, a note of arousal spiking up.  “What makes you think you’re going to get away _this_ time?”  His voice was low and dangerous as he ran his pale, tapered fingers along the thick metal frame that Naruto was bound to.  “It’s titanium.  I had it built just for you.  Even with your strength, you won’t be able to break it.”

“We’ll see, won’t we?” Naruto hissed out as his temper snapped and he lunged at Sasuke.  The metal frame shook, but held.  Sasuke’s eyes swirled red.

“I told you I would let you go as soon as we were past the guards.  But Danzo brought guards _with_ him.  They were looking for any excuse to shoot you and have me executed for endangering the Chancellor.  The plan changed as soon as the playing field did.  You’re a soldier.  Even if you’re not exactly a strategist, you should know _that_.”

Naruto’s muscles were clenched, straining, even though he knew it was futile.  His breath came in harsh rasps.  “I know.  I figured that part out, asshole.  Especially after you dropped the first one when he drew on us.”  Naruto’s eyes flashed.  “But after Danzo started talking, after Orochimaru fucking _shot_ me, you should have let me go.  If you had any intention of not sending me back, you _would_ have.  Instead, you activated the shackles, you fucking son-of-a- _bitch_!”  Naruto lunged again, but it was just as fruitless as the first time.

Sasuke took a step closer, fully into Naruto’s space.  “I pushed the release button as soon as Orochimaru pulled the trigger.”

“ _Liar_ ,” Naruto breathed.

“You tell me.  Am I lying?”  Sasuke stepped even closer.  If Naruto leaned forward, he could brush his nose along Sasuke’s throat.  Or rip it out with his teeth.  His jaw clenched with the desire to do so.  Maybe if he saw Sasuke dead at his feel, blood pooling beneath his boots, the metallic tang of his blood heavy in the air and the taste of it in his mouth… maybe then, Naruto would finally be able to get the man out of his head.  Maybe he would be able to fully move past his dark obsession with him.   But Naruto didn’t.  Couldn’t, even though he knew he _should._

Angry with his own weakness, Naruto drew a deep breath, parting his lips slightly to draw in every trace of Sasuke.  There was no hint of deception.  Only tension...  frustration...  the slight note of arousal.  Arousal?  Naruto met Sasuke’s gaze trying to read something in his eyes that could explain the difference between what he smelled _now_ and what he remembered _then_.

The moment stretched as Sasuke waited for Naruto to make his decision. Finally, Naruto spoke.

“Then what happened?  I swear to god, Sasuke, if you try to tell me that you ‘accidentally’ hit the wrong button…”

Sasuke scoffed, but there was a flicker of relief in his eyes as he stepped back and pulled something out of the pocket of his jacket.  Naruto tensed when he saw it.

Sasuke watched him closely.  “You recognize it.”  It wasn’t a question.

Naruto gave a short nod.  “Yeah.  It’s a remote for controlling the shackles.”  Naruto’s eyes glanced up at his own arms, which were bound with simple rope as far as he could tell.

“Tch.  I’m not going to put you in them again.  This is just rope.”

Naruto felt a sliver of relief.  “Okay.  So… what’s with the remote, then?”

“This was on Orochimaru’s body.”

Naruto felt a flash of fierce satisfaction at the confirmation that the warden was dead.  Not that he’d had much doubt when they’d hit bottom, but it was still good to know that the medical genius hadn’t found a way to save himself.

“A normal controller is linked with a single set of shackles.  This is the warden’s personal remote.  It can control them all, and it overrides any signals sent from other controllers when it’s in range.”

Naruto stared at it, feeling some of the coldness that had been settled in his stomach for the past month melt away.  “That’s why they had him come.”

Sasuke nodded. “They’d figured out that we were working together so they thought there was a good chance I would release you.  They had no chance of taking us both out if that happened, so they had him bring the remote so that - even if I _tried_ to release you - it wouldn’t work.”

Naruto felt his lips curve at the smug arrogance of the statement that an entire army wouldn’t have been able to take the two of them down.  “Yeah.”  His smile faded almost immediately.  “And it was an easy way to retrieve me, since I basically fucking _handed_ myself to them.”

Sasuke’s eyes grew hard, and the edge of anger in his scent spiked back up.  “Danzo also knew that - once you felt the shackles activate - you’d fight to escape no matter what.  It would give his guards a reason to shoot both of us.  And if you _did_ escape, it would give you a reason to hunt me down later to get revenge.  Either way, he would see at least one and likely both of us dead.  He wanted to ensure that - no matter what happened to him - we wouldn’t survive.”

Naruto was stunned for a moment at the General’s level of duplicity and cunning.  “That… _asshole_.”

“He was dead before you even hit the ground,” Sasuke stated flatly, and Naruto felt a surge of satisfaction at the level of repressed anger in Sasuke’s statement.

“Yeah, I know. I saw the news before I left.”  Naruto watched Sasuke for a moment, not missing the way Sasuke’s jaw clenched when Naruto talked about his leaving.  “Sarutobi had said… that you had an old score to settle with Danzo.”

Sasuke didn’t immediately respond, and Naruto thought for a moment that he wasn’t going to.  Finally, Sasuke spoke.  “He set up my father to get him removed from office and took over his job.  He then insisted that my father’s security detail be reduced.  Which was convenient for him, since he and Orochimaru had my parents killed shortly after.  Sarutobi likely approved it.  Itachi’s still working on proving that but public opinion has already turned on him. He’s finished.  All that’s left is whether we’ll be able to execute him or not.”

Naruto stilled, processing everything that Sasuke had said.  Sasuke hadn’t betrayed him.  And even if he had… Naruto might have been able to understand why given the circumstances.  He felt some of the anger leak out, his muscles unclenching slightly.

Sasuke’s eyes hadn’t left him.

“Ok.  So… I get it, then,” Naruto said after a bit, his temper now fading into something that was controlled but still hollow.  This would likely be the last time he saw Sasuke.  “You tracked me down to tell me what happened so there wouldn’t be any bad blood.  You gonna let me go now?”

Sasuke didn’t reply for a moment, but Naruto was close enough to detect the subtle changes in Sasuke’s scent as Sasuke’s eyes shifted to where Naruto’s arms were bound.  The tension faded, but the slight tang of arousal grew.

Sasuke’s lips curved into a slight smirk as he stepped back, then slowly began to circle Naruto again.  “Itachi has been named Chancellor.”

Naruto ran the tip of his tongue over his suddenly dry lower lip.  “Yeah.  I heard.”

“Hn.  I’ve taken over Danzo’s position.”

Naruto tried to track Sasuke’s movements as the man walked behind him.  “Yeah?”  Naruto had settled in a country far enough away that only the biggest highlights of the country made it on the news.  A new Chancellor of a country several borders over made the cut, but not the head of the Special Forces.  Naruto had been careful not to dig for more, knowing that any use of a computer was more likely to get him found.  Though Sasuke had found him anyway.

“Hn.  Did you know that threatening someone in my position is considered treason?”

The scent of arousal was steadily building, and Naruto fought to keep his body from responding to it.  Sasuke didn’t make idle threats and Naruto knew he needed to pay attention.  “You… uh…,” he licked his lips again as he felt Sasuke’s shoulder brush against his back, trying to concentrate.  “You weren’t in that position when I made the threat.”

“Hm,” Sasuke said just behind Naruto’s left shoulder, his lips only inches from Naruto’s ear.  “Does that mean you’re no longer a threat to me, Naruto?”

The taunting tone of Sasuke’s voice had Naruto’s dick stirring, and Naruto was damn sure it was intentional.   _This_ was a game he was familiar with.  Only this time, their roles were reversed.  Naruto slanted Sasuke a glance, and a grin that was all teeth.  “Why don’t you cut these ropes off and let’s find out.”

Sasuke looked as though he were considering it, but the slight smirk that played on his lips said something else.  “Hn.  Not quite yet.”

Naruto wasn’t exactly sure what Sasuke’s plans were, but his pulse kicked up several notches as the dark gaze slid more overly over his body.

“These ropes aren’t going to hold me forever, Sasuke.  And at some point, people will notice I’m missing and come looking for me.”

“You mean Gaara and Temari?”  Sasuke’s voice turned cold with anger.  “The ones who hacked the security videos, transferred the money from the account I had set up for you, and hid you from an official government search?”

Naruto looked steadily at Sasuke.  “Seems to me like you did a lot of those same things yourself, Sasuke.  Leave them out of this.”  Naruto would make sure Gaara and Temari weren’t swept up in whatever game Sasuke was playing.  They’d settled here, and wanted to build a life away from all the shit that had pulled them down before.

“You’re the one who brought them into it.  You agreed to be my weapon, and then you _disappeared_.”

Sasuke’s possessiveness confused Naruto.  “I agreed to be your weapon until we found out who was trying to kill you and your brother and took them down.  Danzo and Orochimaru are dead.  Sarutobi is in custody.  I’m not going back to be a lab rat for the fucking government, Sasuke.  Not even with you and your brother in charge.”

Sasuke let out a short breath.  “You would be wasted as in the lab.  I’m not here to put you back in your cage.”

Naruto studied Sasuke, but nothing in his face or body language said he was lying.  “So… if you aren’t here to kill me or take me back to the lab, then why are you here?”

Sasuke looked at him, his face inscrutable, his scent a confusing mix of things that Naruto couldn’t sort out, though anger and lust were both prominent.  

“I learned something interesting, looking through Orochimaru’s reports when I was trying to find you.”

Naruto stilled.  Nothing that came out of Orochimaru’s research could be good.

“The device in your neck was more than just for tracking.  He monitored your vitals, blood chemistry… anything he needed for his research.”

Naruto rolled his neck, the mark where he’d ripped the device from his flesh long-healed, but the thought of it still made him itch.  “Yeah.  The guy was nothing if not thorough.  Figures he was taking notes.”

“He was frustrated that you showed no reaction to any of the women they brought to your cell for mating.”  Sasuke’s eyes were fixed on him intently.  “Even when they drugged you.”

Naruto shrugged as much as his restraints would allow.  “Yeah, whatever.”

“There was only one time you had any response.”

Naruto paused, thinking about all of the women that had been sent to him.  None had even remotely interested him.  “No, there wasn’t.”

Sasuke arched a brow, and the heavy note of arrogance and possessiveness nearly flooded out the scent of arousal.  Naruto felt his cheeks heat slightly as he realized what Sasuke was talking about.  Suddenly the fact that Naruto was still tied up took on a slightly different edge, a possibility that Naruto hadn’t even let himself consider.  Naruto decided to test the waters.

“I told you, Sasuke,” Naruto gave a feral grin, hoping to shake some of the smugness from the man who seemed intent on taunting him.  “I like your scent.”

“Hm.  I realized something, after you left.”  Sasuke drew a six-inch blade from a sheath at his hip.  The fine edge of the knife glinted in the light of the room and the scent of arousal grew.

Naruto flexed his wrists, trying to see if there was any give in the ropes that he could use to his advantage.  Sasuke might still playing games but Naruto was very familiar with the things the man liked to do with his knife.

“And what’s that?” Naruto asked, feeling the ropes give slightly, but still not enough for him to get loose.  His constant straining against them had stretched them, but he needed to work on them more if he was going to be able to pull one of his hands free.

Sasuke tilted the blade slightly, looking at its edge.  “You’d never had sex before you escaped, had you?”

Naruto shifted slightly in his binds, not sure where this line of questioning was coming from.  “If you’ve read my medical records, then you know the answer to that.”

Sasuke’s gaze hardened.  “The first person you fucked.  Who was it?”

Naruto bit his lip.  His dick was already half-hard, and he still didn’t know if Sasuke was going to slit his throat or cut the ropes.  He knew he should probably be concerned about that, but he really wasn’t.   “Hooker,” Naruto said, his voice rough.

“You ignored all the mates that Orochimaru sent you, but as soon as you escaped, you fucked a government _hooker_.”  Sasuke lifted his blade, letting it skim over Naruto’s forearm just above where the rope binding started.  Naruto watched, transfixed, as the blade cut through the fabric of his shirt. “Why her?  Did you like _her_ scent?”  Sasuke asked dangerously.

Naruto frowned, confused as to why Sasuke would even care.  He thought about lying, but it was clear Sasuke already likely knew the answer.  Naruto hadn’t been exactly subtle about his fixation.  So he shrugged, and answered honestly.  “No.  She was one of yours.  She smelled like you.”

Sasuke’s eyes flashed, and he turned the handle of the blade, slitting up the sleeve of Naruto’s shirt up to his shoulder, the fabric falling away and leaving his arm bare but un-cut.  Sasuke was precise and ruthless with any weapon, and Naruto was still at least a good ten minutes away from stretching the rope enough to get free.  He saw Sasuke glance at the bindings, and knew the man was aware of this fact.  There wasn’t the slightest hesitation in Sasuke’s movements. Anyone else would be running away as fast as possible, but Sasuke just arched a brow.

“When was the first one?”  Sasuke asked.

Naruto was fully hard now, a fact that he was sure Sasuke had noticed.  

“The day after I escaped.  She came to your place.  I watched you fuck her.”  Naruto licked his lips slightly as he remembered the first time he had watched Sasuke have sex.  He’d watched, fascinated, from the shadows, his dick hard and leaking for the first time in his life at the thought of someone else.  Naruto looked up from his thoughts to find Sasuke’s eyes dilated and locked on him.  The scent of Sasuke’s arousal surged, blending with Naruto’s own.  Naruto drew a deep breath, greedily drinking in every drop of it, wanting to taste it.

Sasuke drew his blade across Naruto’s chest, slicing his shirt free so it dangled from Naruto’s shoulder covering one arm, but left the rest of his torso bare.  “Did you like to watch, Naruto?  Did you like watching me fuck her?”

Naruto’s whole body was shaking with arousal.  He strained against the ropes, wanting to grab Sasuke and drag him to him, pin him beneath him.  “Fuck, _yes_.  I couldn’t wait for her to come down so I could smell her… smell you on her.”

Sasuke’s eyes were dark, and there was no mistaking the lust in his eyes as he watched the path his blade made along Naruto’s bare skin.  “So you fucked her, because she smelled like me.  You wanted me, but you fucked _her._ ”

“Yes. I wanted you,” Naruto breathed out, his breath coming in rapid gasps.

Sasuke’s hand shot out, grabbing Naruto by the hair on the back of his head and jerking his head back, causing his tan neck to arch back, and Naruto bit back a groan at the arousal that the act of aggression sent spearing through him.  

“How many of them, Naruto?” Sasuke asked, his eyes dark and dangerous as he slid the hand that still held the knife down along the hard bulge in the front of Naruto’s jeans.

“All of them,” Naruto taunted back, breathless, loving the rush at the flood of anger he sensed from Sasuke at his words.  “Every single one that you had since I broke out.  I waited for them by the entrance to your building.  They’d take me home...,” Naruto stretched his neck forward, inhaling deeply against the column of Sasuke’s throat then licking a long, wet stripe along it.  “... and I’d lick every trace of your sweat off their bodies before I fucked them.”

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed and his grip tightened painfully around Naruto’s clothed cock.  Naruto could feel the handle of the blade pressing against the side of his shaft and nearly came.

“You said you were _mine._   _My_ weapon.  You broke out because of me.   _I_ was the one who should have been your first.  Not them.  How many times did you fuck them?”

Naruto licked his lips, his shoulders straining against the holds as his hips flexed up into Sasuke’s touch.  He had to force himself to process what Sasuke was saying to him.  Did Sasuke mean how many different girls, or how many times he’d fucked each one?  With Sasuke’s scent on them, especially the last one, he’d been too focused on getting his fix… keeping count hadn’t crossed his mind.  “Does it matter?  I fucked them until they didn’t smell like you anymore.”

Sasuke’s shifted closer, his body flush against Naruto’s while his pale fingers tightened painfully in Naruto’s hair, the other hand now slowly pumping up and down Naruto’s cock.  “How many times, Naruto?”  Sasuke murmured darkly in his ear.  Sweat start to prickle along Naruto’s skin as his body temperature spiked.

Naruto’s eyes rolled back and he let out a filthy groan.  All Naruto could think about was grabbing Sasuke, pinning him down and fucking him.  He knew that Sasuke had asked him something, but all he could smell was the heavy scent of Sasuke’s arousal, stronger than it had ever been before, and unclouded by the annoying scent of alcohol.

“How _many_ ,” Sasuke repeated, shoving his hard thigh between Naruto’s legs

Naruto’s dick was so fucking hard that he could feel it beat with his pulse against the zipper of his jeans.  His nipples had pebbled, chafing slightly against the fabric of Sasuke’s shirt.  “I… I didn’t… I didn’t count.”

Sasuke thrust his leg and hip harshly against Naruto’s erection, this fist still gripping Naruto’s hair forcing his head to arch back almost painfully.  Naruto couldn’t hold on anymore.  He felt his balls tighten and his belly clench, and all he could do was bare his teeth and hiss as he came hard in his jeans.  He hadn’t so much as jerked off since he’d left, all thoughts of sex leading back to Sasuke and his betrayal.  Waking up to find himself bound hand and foot in Sasuke’s rented bedroom, surrounded by the scent of Sasuke’s arousal and then learning that Sasuke hadn’t betrayed him had been too much for his body to withstand.  

He found himself drifting back to awareness with an uncomfortable stickiness in his jeans.  Sasuke released his hold on Naruto and stepped back, running his eyes along Naruto’s body, the way he hung limply from the ropes that secured him.

“Asshole,” Naruto muttered, though he barely had the energy to form the words.  Sasuke simply arched an amused brow, but the hard ridge in the front of Sasuke’s uniform pants showed that Sasuke was more than just amused.  

“I don’t like being in debt.  Now we’re even.”

“What?” Naruto asked, trying to make himself focus again.

“Back in the warehouse, you just walked away.”  Sasuke’s tone sounded indifferent, but the sharp edge of his scent said differently as the elite officer slowly walked around behind him again.  

“Yeah.  Well, I’d been watching you for a while, Sasuke.  I knew I wasn’t exactly your type.”  At least… he’d _thought_ he’d known.  “And anyway, that wasn’t a favor to you.  If anything…” Naruto’s breath hitched as he felt the heat of Sasuke’s body behind his, just a breath away from touching him.  “... I figured you were doing _me_ a favor by letting me.  Sort of like the first time, when you asked me what I wanted in payment.”

Sasuke moved closer, letting their bodies touch.  Naruto could feel the hard length of Sasuke’s arousal up against his ass. “Oh?” Sasuke asked.

Despite having just cum, Naruto felt heat start to build again low in his belly, though his dick would still need at least a few more minutes to get back into the game.   He arched back more forcefully against Sasuke’s body, feeling the hard, full length of Sasuke’s cock.  

“You didn’t stay to find out.” The breath of Sasuke’s words was hot against Naruto’s ear.

He gave up trying to figure out of Sasuke was still trying to manipulate him into something, or what the elite soldier’s end game was.  Naruto didn’t really give a shit at the moment. There would be time to figure out the rules to the new game later.  He wasn’t going to deny himself this.

Sasuke slid his hand around Naruto’s waist, splaying his fingers tight against Naruto’s taut stomach.  Naruto could feel the brush of Sasuke’s body against his, Sasuke’s pulse racing in time with his own.  Sasuke’s hand continued its exploration, moving up over Naruto’s chest, thumbing at his nipple and earning a hissed curse from Naruto.

“You changing your type then, Sasuke?” Naruto managed to ask, his voice strained.

Sasuke stepped back, moving his hands to trace along the ridges of muscle along Naruto’s shoulder blades.  Naruto could feel the calloused pads of Sasuke’s thumbs slip down along the lower ridge of his scapula, exploring the muscles there before following the valley of his spine down to his waist, as though studying Naruto’s body.  Naruto wondered if Sasuke had ever had sex with a man before, if he were comparing him to the female lovers of his past.

Naruto flexed the muscles in his back as he strained against the ropes, feeling them give slightly more.  Sasuke seemed attracted to Naruto’s strength… Naruto was not above drawing attention to it in full.

A soft hum from behind him greeted his efforts.  “Showing off for me?”  Sasuke asked.

“Maybe.  It is working?”  Naruto tried to turn but the bindings kept him from being able to move anything other than his head.  He looked back at Sasuke as much as he could, noticing the intent way the man watched his fingers trace along Naruto’s body.  His fingers dipped into the waistband of Naruto’s jeans, and a slight frown formed on Sasuke’s brow when the fabric prevented any further exploration.

The warmth of Sasuke’s hands disappeared from Naruto’s skin again, and there was a tug on Naruto’s jeans then a low, ripping sound as Sasuke’s wickedly sharp knife sliced through the offending fabric, slitting down the center of the back from the waistband to the crotch.  He shoved the ruined fabric aside to bare the curve of Naruto’s ass.  

“Fuck!” Naruto gasped out, his hands straining instinctively against the ropes.  He could feel his dick stir in his jeans, and grimaced slightly at the stickiness of it.

Sasuke’s hands were once again settling against his skin, his thumbs dipping into the shallow dimples on either side of Naruto’s lower spine.  There was something about knowing that the ruthless man behind him still held his knife that made Naruto’s breath come faster.  Sasuke could have just as easily sliced flesh as clothing, and the uncertainty of it kept him on edge.  It went against every instinct Naruto had to let someone so deadly and still armed stand behind him, but he couldn’t deny it turned him on.

Sasuke let his hands drift lower to cup Naruto’s ass, the heels of his palms pushing up harshly against the smooth curve of muscled flesh.  

“Hn,” Sasuke hummed slightly, kneading the flesh in his hands.  Naruto arched back, frustrated at having to let Sasuke set the pace.  The front part of his jeans was still intact and tented out lewdly

Sasuke continued his study of Naruto’s body, sliding his thumb down over sharp edge of Naruto’s hipbone.  The tips of his fingers brushed against the fabric at the front of Naruto’s pants as though testing the hardness of what was beneath it.

“Hn. Orochimaru’s records showed that G-mods have unusually high stamina.  The girl you brought back to your apartment definitely confirmed that when I spoke with her.”  

There was no mistaking the dark, jealous anger in Sasuke’s scent.  It made Naruto’s cock harden further.  “You fucked her first.  You fucked all of them first.” The memory of Sasuke with the hooker the night Naruto had left flashed into his mind.  “And you fucked her again after I left.”

“What?” Sasuke asked, his tone sharp as his hand stilled.

“I saw you.  You were looking out at the alley.  She was there.”  

Sasuke was silent for a moment, as though thinking about Naruto’s words.  “You weren’t in the alley.”

“No.  I found another spot.  Your cameras weren’t exactly hard to find, Sasuke.  The view wasn’t as good, but I saw enough.”  Naruto heard the bitterness in his own voice, but he couldn’t hide it.  The memory of Sasuke with the hooker had taken the edge off Naruto’s arousal.  In the end, even if Sasuke hadn’t betrayed Naruto, he hadn’t wanted him, either.

“The view must not have been sufficient if you think I had sex with her.”

Naruto felt his pulse still, then abruptly accelerate.  Sasuke hadn’t had sex with her?  He tried not to let himself read anything into it.  “What do you mean?”

Sasuke’s hands slid back to the cut edges of Naruto’s jeans, pushing them forward and down until Naruto’s shaft was finally free of its sticky restraints.

“You had disappeared.  She knew you.  I interrogated her.  End of story.”

“You… _interrogated_ her.  In your bedroom, at night?”

“I had her come to my apartment to talk without Itachi getting suspicious.  I told him I would handle you, but he continued to look for you on his own.”

Naruto snorted.  “Yeah, you can only ‘handle’ me if you cheat and use a fucking tranq gun.  I thought you had more stones than Orochimaru.”

Sasuke pressed the blade of his knife against Naruto’s throat, but the G-mod didn’t flinch.  He threw him a cocky grin instead, lifting his chin slightly as though daring Sasuke to do it.  Amusement flashed through the dark eyes at the gesture.  

“I only had to use the tranquilizer because I knew you would be too fucking _stubborn_ to listen to what I had to say.”  Sasuke lifted the blade, running it along the edge of Naruto’s jaw, his dark eyes following the slide of the blade against Naruto’s skin.  Naruto could feel the thin cut, and was almost dizzy with the need to have Sasuke lean in and lick it and taste Naruto’s blood.  The elite soldier didn’t do it, but there was no mistaking the arousal in the black eyes.

It was a look that Sasuke had never given any of the women Naruto had seen service him, and he felt a fierce twist of possessiveness that he was the only one to earn that look.  It also brought a question to his mind.  “Why _didn’t_ you have sex with her?”

Sasuke’s face closed up, but Naruto couldn’t help the surprised grin that spread slowly on his own face.  “Did you get _bored_ , Sasuke?” Naruto gave a low chuckle. “Can’t get it up for your hookers anymore?”  

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed in annoyance, but he didn’t deny it.  The implications of that pause had Naruto’s mind thinking about things he knew were dangerous to hope for.  He could feel Sasuke’s breath ghosting along the back of his neck, and felt the pale fingers settle around his hips.

“I’ve been busy.  Sex wasn’t a priority,” was all Sasuke said, his fingers digging in harshly into the curve of Naruto’s hip.

“You still haven’t really explained why you won’t let me go,” Naruto said, his breath hitching as Sasuke’s hands slid lower, retracing the path along the curve of Naruto’s ass.  

“Didn’t I?” Sasuke murmured against the back of Naruto’s neck.  Naruto’s dick began to lengthen again, lifting up into the cool air of the room.   Naruto shivered slightly as he thought he felt the trace of Sasuke’s lips along his shoulder, but he wasn’t sure if he were imagining it or not.

God knows he’d imagined plenty about Sasuke’s mouth.

Sasuke’s hands slipped down over the muscles of Naruto’s thighs, still covered by the tattered remains of his jeans.  Naruto could feel the strong fingers tracing the lines of his body, his muscles clenching reflexively beneath Sasuke’s touch.  He strained against the ropes, wanting to reached down and place Sasuke’s hands where he wanted them.  Somehow he was sure that Sasuke knew exactly what he wanted and was intentionally not giving it to him.  Frustration and arousal ticked through Naruto in equal measure.

“When I get out of these ropes…,” Naruto growled. “... you know I’m going to fuck you into the wall, right?”

Sasuke’s hands paused in their movements. “Then I’ll have to make good use of you while you’re still tied, won’t I?”  Sasuke’s hand slid forward, pumping twice over Naruto’s cum-slicked dick before moving back.  Naruto had no time to mourn the loss of Sasuke’s fingers around his shaft as he felt two fingers thrust into him, slick with his cum.  The first few thrusts of those fingers _hurt_ , and Naruto loved it.  Sasuke wasn’t gentle… he wasn’t holding back.  Naruto could feel Sasuke’s fingers moving harshly inside of him, flexing and stretching him open.  The tight pain/pleasure feel suddenly lit up like wildfire when Sasuke brushed against something inside him.

“ _Shit_!” Naruto arched back, forcing Sasuke’s fingers deeper.

Sasuke’s free hand slid immediately into the accentuated curve of Naruto’s spine, moving lower to settle over the upper swell of his ass.  Naruto could hear Sasuke’s harsh breathing behind him, feeling the hot puffs of air against the bare skin of his back as Sasuke rested his head against Naruto’s shoulder blades.

“Fuck.” Sasuke’s voice was strained as he smoothed thumb along the rounded curve of Naruto’s, his palm making circular motions along the hard, smooth flesh while his other hand continued to work Naruto open.  Naruto flexed his arms and he could feel the soft rope give more.  It wouldn’t be long before he would have at least one arm free.

“You gonna fuck me, Sasuke?  I can smell how much you want it.”  Naruto wished he could see Sasuke’s face as he rotated his wrist in the ropes, ignoring the way it cut into his skin as he continued to work his bindings looser.  “Who are you holding back for?  Neither of us wants it slow.”

Sasuke let out a low sound of aggression and want as the fingers abruptly disappeared.  Naruto could hear the soft burr of a zipper rapidly being pulled down and then Sasuke was gripping Naruto by the hips and driving in.  Both men groaned at the too-tight feel.  Naruto fought for breath, loving the way Sasuke’s body forced his to give way.  He closed his eyes, knowing that Sasuke’s cock was coated with his cum, sheathed fully inside him.  

Naruto could feel the cold metal of the buckle from Sasuke’s belt brushing against his upper thigh, and reveled in the fact that the coolly controlled officer had been too impatient to do more than just unzip and pull his dick out before fucking into him.

“Impatient, Sasuke?” Naruto taunted over his shoulder.  “I never saw you like that with the others.”

“Shut up,” Sasuke’s words sounded as though they came through clenched teeth.  Naruto could hear the rapid breathing of the man behind him, and he felt the tightly leashed tension in Sasuke’s frame, his fingers digging harshly into Naruto’s hips.  The overwhelming scent of Sasuke’s lust made a sly grin broke across Naruto’s face as he realized Sasuke’s predicament.  

“Staying power never seemed to be a problem for you before, Sasuke.  You gonna cum in me on your first thrust?”

“Fuck,” Sasuke muttered, shifting his hips slightly and adjusting his grip to get a better hold.  Naruto opened his mouth to say something more, but then Sasuke rolled his hips, grinding his cock against Naruto’s prostate and Naruto forgot what he had been about to say, letting out a choking gasp instead.

“What was that?” Sasuke asked, his voice still rough but with a definite.  “I bet none of the hookers you fucked made you sound like that.”

Sasuke pulled out, then slammed back in.  With minimal stretching and only cum as lube, Naruto could feel every inch of the tight slide of Sasuke’s flesh against his.  The combined scent of their arousal made Naruto almost dizzy with lust.

“That all you got, Sasuke?  They rode me harder than you’re fucking me right now.”  Naruto didn’t want Sasuke to hold back.  He wanted Sasuke to give him _everything._  He wanted to mark Sasuke as his in every possible way.

“You didn’t even want them,” Sasuke bit out.  “You only fucked them because they smelled like me.  You only fucked _all_ of them because the smelled like me.”

Sasuke’s hips viciously snapped forward, the force of his thrust lifting Naruto slightly off his feet, supported only by the ropes and Sasuke’s dick for a frozen moment before Sasuke shifted back, letting Naruto touch back down before slowly pulling out and slamming back in again.  Sasuke repeated it immediately, setting a brutal pace with his body, putting his full strength behind every thrust.  Naruto loved the sloppy-wet sound their bodies made, arching into the feel as the friction intensified with each thrust, touching the border of pleasure and pain that seemed so core to both men.

“That’s it, Sasuke.  Fuck me like you mean it,” Naruto growled out.  He could still feel the flat of Sasuke’s knife resting against his hip where Sasuke was gripping him, a reminder of the deadliness of the man who was fucking him for all he was worth.  The faint jingle of Sasuke’s belt buckle kept tempo along with the wet sounds of flesh striking flesh.  Naruto’s whole body strained at the fierce possessiveness that flooded him, his muscles clenching, his tan skin glistening and slick with sweat.  The ropes that bound him pulled and strained, the sweat seeping in and making them stretch a bit more.

Sasuke’s pace changed, slowing down slightly but adding even more force behind his thrusts.  Naruto pushed back into each one, hoping the hard edges of Sasuke’s hips left bruises on the lower curve of his ass, even if he knew they would be gone by morning.  He could feel Sasuke’s muscles straining and felt the harsh breath from Sasuke’s lips brush across his skin.  

Sasuke wasn’t holding back, and Naruto loved it.

The pale hands shifted, pulling Naruto’s hips back and forcing him to arch even more.  The new angle caused Sasuke to hit Naruto’s prostate dead on with each thrust.  “Ahn, _fuck_ , right there!”  Naruto’s voice was jagged with lust.

“ _Ngghh_ ,” Sasuke groaned, his hands nearly slipping on the sweat-slicked flesh he was gripping.  “No one else,” he growled.

Naruto wasn’t sure exactly what Sasuke meant, but a flood of possessiveness surged through Sasuke’s scent as the elite soldier’s thrusts began to lose their precise rhythm, becoming faster and more erratic.  

“Gonna cum?”  Naruto gasped out, feeling his own release quickly building. Sasuke’s fingers abruptly tightened in a fierce grip and Sasuke’s body went rigid as he came with a choked sound.  The mouthwatering scent of Sasuke’s cum mixed with his own pushed Naruto over the edge and he came, shooting over the carpet.

Sasuke didn’t withdraw immediately, like he always had with the women Naruto had watched him with.  He stayed buried deep inside Naruto as their breathing eventually slowed.  Finally, though, he pulled out.

Naruto could hear a rustling sound as Sasuke adjusted his clothing with a soft, annoyed ‘ _tch’_ likely at the mess his haste had made.

“I’ll get a cloth to clean up.”  Sasuke tersely as he walked over to the bathroom, not looking back at Naruto.

Naruto smirked, twisting his wrist and ignoring the painful way the rope abraded his skin.  He heard the water in the bathroom turn on as he continued to work the ropes until he was finally able to pull one his hand free.  His smirk widened into a grin as he began to undo the remaining knots with his free hand.  

* * *

 

Sasuke paused as he closed the bathroom door behind him, feeling unsettled.  He’d had sex before, plenty of times.  It had always been the same… a perfunctory release of stress and a way to keep his psych records ‘normal’.   Any thoughts about the person he was fucking didn’t last beyond the moment he withdrew and made sure the condom hadn’t leaked.  And even during sex, Sasuke was always in full control, riding the low level arousal to completion, but nothing more.

Being with Naruto bore no resemblance to those past experiences.

Sasuke had known before Naruto had left that he had a level of trust in the G-mod that was unusual for him, but he’d written it up to Naruto being a powerful ally.  Naruto could handle himself in battle.  On top of that Sasuke had discovered he had a unique ability to control the G-mod, due to Naruto’s fascination with him.  But that didn’t explain the possessiveness he’d felt when he’d bound the unconscious G-mod to the titanium scaffolding.  Nor his relief in finding Naruto physically recovered from the fall as he had watched him earlier in the week.

When Sasuke had walked into his bedroom to find Naruto awake, the man had looked like he wanted nothing more than to rip Sasuke’s lungs out.  Naruto had been bound hand and foot, completely at Sasuke’s mercy, but hadn’t shown an ounce of fear.  

Other than Itachi, Sasuke couldn’t recall anyone else ever truly being fearless in his presence, especially not when they were Sasuke’s captive.  Even just the memory of it had Sasuke’s blood humming.  He had planned on making Naruto hear him out.  He had planned on getting retribution for Naruto disappearing without a word.

He hadn’t planned on totally losing control.  

Any thoughts he had that the intensity of having Naruto sucking his cock in the warehouse had been due to the alcohol he rarely indulged in had been blown away.  He turned the water on, watching the rush of it against the white porcelain and silver drain, his palms pressed against the smooth counter as he leaned over the sink.  Sex had never been like this for him. It wasn’t just that Naruto was male.  Sasuke had never been invested enough in sex to really give a shit about his sexual identity.  His sexual partners were of no consequence.  He barely remembered them after the door had closed behind them, and certainly never harbored any lingering desire for any of them.  He liked control and he liked power, and those were the things that made him the man he was.  Sex was just a slightly messy way to take care of a bodily need and keep the government shrinks off his back.

He leaned forward, resting his hands on the sink.  His belt buckle clicked against the vanity, reminding Sasuke of his current state of undress.  He looked down, grimacing slightly at his clothes as he peeled them off and tossed them aside.  He needed to clean up before he did anything else.  He turned on the shower, stepping in before the water was fully heated.  

He kept his ears tuned to the bedroom as he washed himself.  He hadn’t missed the fact that Naruto had slowly been working the ropes loose ever since he had woken up from the sedatives.  He knew he would likely find the G-mod completely unbound by the time he finished washing up and was curious to see what Naruto’s next move would be.

Sasuke had taped a small tranq gun under the vanity, but he hadn’t taken it out.   There were weapons hidden within easy reach throughout the rented house, but Sasuke didn’t bring anything but his knife into the shower with him.  He could easily have put Naruto out again before he had left the room, but that wasn’t what the game between them was about.  The skill had been hunting Naruto down in the first place.  Now that he was here, Sasuke wasn’t going to resort to using the chemicals Orochimaru had needed to control the G-mods he’d created.  Sasuke didn’t need them.  

Itachi was going to be annoyed, but Sasuke had accomplished what he’d set out to do.  At least the first half of it.  The primary objective - as he had told Itachi - was to neutralize any threat Naruto posed.  Whether Sasuke accomplished that through conversation or other means, Itachi had left up to Sasuke.  And if Sasuke had detected a particularly skeptical arch of Itachi’s brow when he said that was his only purpose in tracking Naruto down, Sasuke had ignored it.  

It would be a benefit to their new regime if Naruto decided to return with Sasuke.  He told himself this was just the most efficient way to accomplish that goal.

He had been careful to make sure his brother never knew where he was going until it was too late for him to interfere.  As long as Sasuke did what he promised to do, Itachi could fuck off about the rest of it.  Not that there _was_ a ‘rest of it’.  Sasuke was simply retrieving something that belonged to him.  He didn’t want to think about how completely disinterested he had been in the hookers that had been sent to him since Naruto had left.  Naruto’s words had cut too close to home.  Sasuke _had_ been bored with them.  With Naruto, Sasuke had barely able to even get his zipper down fast enough.  

Arousal had never been like that for him - hard and all-consuming - driving all thought from his head.

There was a soft sound from the other room drawing Sasuke’s attention.  Naruto had likely freed himself of the restraints.  Itachi would tell Sasuke it was foolish of him to be standing with his back to the door, unarmed.  He was allowing Naruto to choose his own course rather than controlling the situation fully, the way Itachi would have wanted him to.

But Itachi hadn’t seen the way Naruto looked at him.  Watched him.

Sasuke traced the tip of his tongue along the inside of his lower lip.  No.  He wasn’t concerned.  Naruto wouldn’t harm him, though it annoyed him to admit (at least to himself) that Naruto _could_.  

* * *

 

Sasuke paused in rinsing the shampoo from his hair as he heard the whisper-quiet sound of the bathroom door being opened.  The steam from the shower had fogged up the glass door, but Sasuke heard the sound of the tape ripping from where he had stashed the gun under the vanity.

The sound of something metal landing in the garbage can was followed by a soft chuckle.

“I can’t decide if you are incredibly paranoid or incredibly trusting, Sasuke.”  Naruto’s voice floated through the steam, then the shower door opened and Naruto stepped into the large shower.  His eyes raked over Sasuke, then shifted to quickly scan for more weapons. “You had enough weapons stored in this place to launch a small invasion.  You didn’t keep any on you?”

Sasuke stilled, tilting his head slightly back to keep the suds from his eyes as he shoved his wet hair back with one hand.  He noticed the red, scraped flesh on Naruto’s left wrist, presumably where he’d pulled free from the ropes, but the injury seemed minor.  It wouldn’t slow Naruto down.  He let out a slight breath of disbelief as he noticed the half-hard cock the G-mod was sporting.  Orochimaru hadn’t been lying about the G-mods’ stamina.  

Naruto seemed content to stand at the edge of the shower, out of the spray, watching Sasuke.  His eyes flickered to where the knife was resting on the shelf, only inches from Sasuke’s hand free hand.  Sasuke’s stilled, ready to grab the blade if needed, but made no move to do so.  They faced each other, eyes locked, waiting to see what the other would do.

A lopsided grin spread slowly across Naruto’s face.  “You don’t look surprised to see me.”

“Tch,” Sasuke rolled his eyes, lifting his other hand to continue rinsing his hair as though he didn’t have one of the most dangerous potential adversaries watching him bathe.  “You weren’t exactly subtle about working the bindings loose, moron.”

“Hmm,” Naruto hummed, but it sounded slightly distracted.  Sasuke only had to glance down to see that G-mod’s cock was now standing at full attention.  “You could have used coarser rope that didn’t stretch.  You didn’t seem that worried about me getting out.”

“Should I be?”  Sasuke ignored Naruto’s presence, running his hands through his hair to rinse the last of the shampoo out.  He let his confidence fill his voice, knowing Naruto would be able to detect any sign of weakness in his scent or body language.  

So he showed none.

Naruto let his gaze drift over Sasuke’s body, not bothering to hide the hunger in his eyes.  “Maybe I don’t like that you washed off my scent.”  Naruto ran his hand idly through the cum that covered his own lower belly, where the steam was slowly re-hydrating it.

“Maybe you just need a shower, too,” Sasuke said, noticing the way Naruto tracked every slight movement he made as Sasuke finished rinsing his hair, the blue eyes dilated with lust as they traced over the way Sasuke’s upraised arms showcased his muscles and toned torso.

“Nah,” Naruto took his cum-slicked hand as he took a step deeper into the shower, some of the spray beginning to hit him directly.  “I think I’d rather dirty you back up instead,” he said, running the palm of his hand up along the column of Sasuke’s throat, tracing his fingers along the sharp ridge of Sasuke’s jawline before moving slowly up to press his thumb between Sasuke’s lips.

Sasuke could see the rapid rise and fall of Naruto’s chest, the G-mod’s pink lips parting slightly as though willing Sasuke’s to mirror his.  Sasuke was sure Naruto had never looked at any of the women he’d fucked like _this_.  Naruto had broken out of Orochimaru’s cell to find _him,_ not any of the others.  

Sasuke still held the upper hand.  

The thought steadied him.  He let the tip of his tongue swipe along the pad of Naruto’s thumb, tasting the slight salty bitterness of Naruto’s cum and the underlying flavor of Naruto’s skin.  Naruto let out a low, dirty sound as he pushed his thumb more forcefully further into Sasuke’s mouth, stepping fully into the shower so their bodies were pressed together.

Sasuke closed his lips around Naruto’s thumb, sucking slightly as he grabbed the soap.  He could feel the full body shudder that ran through Naruto as his tongue swirled around the digit.  He lathered his hands, then ran them down along the contours of Naruto’s back and curve of his ass.

“Fuck, Sasuke,” Naruto’s voice was slightly dazed, and the blue eyes were fully glazed over as Naruto pressed his thumb along Sasuke’s tongue.  Sasuke tightened his grip on Naruto’s hips, feeling the hard length of Naruto’s erection pressed against his thigh as Naruto flexed his hips forward.  Sasuke pulled Naruto closer, increasing the friction.  Naruto groaned, then abruptly removed his thumb from Sasuke’s mouth and fisted both hands into Sasuke’s hair.  He pulled Sasuke’s face to his, pausing for just a moment, seeming to breathe Sasuke in, the tip of his nose brushing across Sasuke’s upper lip.  “God, I love the smell of my cum in your mouth.”  

The intensity of Naruto’s statement sent a coil of possessive arousal through Sasuke’s belly.  Naruto leaned in and licked along Sasuke’s lower lip, groaning slightly then caught it between his teeth.  The slight prick of pain had Sasuke’s dick stirring with interest, reminding him that Naruto was like him… trained for battle and nearly unbreakable.  Sasuke didn’t need to hold back.  Naruto belonged to him… only wanted _him_.

Naruto shifting closer, digging his thumbs into the hinge of Sasuke’s jaw and laved the flat of his tongue across Sasuke’s mouth, seeming to savor the taste of his lips before pressing his tongue slowly inside.

Sasuke had never been one for kissing.  

He had no desire to taste the mouths of hookers he’d been with in the past, and never had an interest in pursuing sex outside of the strictly transactional.  It was therefore surprising to find himself responding to the aggressive slide of Naruto’s tongue against his own, his blood heating and his pulse ticking up.  Naruto hummed approvingly into his mouth, the low sound sending vibrations along Sasuke’s lips and tongue, sensitizing the nerves there and sending an echoing response further down.  

He felt the brush of air against his cheek as Naruto drew in a deep breath through his nose.  The G-mod evidently liked what he smelled since he made a growling sound as he shoved Sasuke back against the wall of the shower, his tongue swirling around every surface in Sasuke’s mouth.

“Fuck.” Naruto pulled off briefly before licking into Sasuke’s mouth again.  “I can taste my cum in your mouth.”  He sounded obscenely pleased about that.

Sasuke hummed at the blissed-out look in Naruto’s expression, a curl of smugness filling his blood as their mouths clashed together again.  The water from the shower ran over their faces, making it difficult to keep their eyes open and slipping in between their lips with every pull of their tongues.  Sasuke closed his eyes, pushing harder against Naruto’s body, noting that he tasted faintly of toothpaste, the fading trace of cum, and something else that was warmer, darker, and wholly the man who was pinning him against the cool shower wall.  

Sasuke thrust his tongue more harshly into Naruto’s mouth, at the same time he shifted forward, levering himself away from the wall to push more firmly into Naruto.  Their skin slid together with a slick suction, their erections grinding wetly against each other with just enough friction to make it frustrating and not enough to bring release.

Sasuke used his grip on Naruto’s hips to try turn him around so they could fix that problem when he abruptly found himself pinned _much_ more forcefully against the wall.  Naruto’s hands were bruising around his wrists, his G-mod strength in full force.  Sasuke wouldn’t be surprised if one of the tiles had cracked, but he _was_ surprised at how painfully hard his dick became at the act of aggression.

“Where’s that special memory ability of yours, Sasuke?” Naruto murmured, leaning forward to let his lips brush against Sasuke’s ear.  Goosebumps broke out along the back of Sasuke’s neck and the dark, possessive sound of Naruto’s voice.  “Don’t you remember what I told you I was going to do when I got free?”

Sasuke pulled his head back to meet Naruto’s gaze, reveling in the dark fixation the powerful G-mod had for him.  “You said a lot of things.”  

“God you smell so fucking good,” Naruto breathed.  “I want to get you out of this shower so I can smell you better.  Shit, I want to -”

Sasuke grit his teeth against the groan that started in his throat as Naruto thrust against him, nuzzling into the dip in Sasuke’s throat.  He could feel the tightly coiled strength of Naruto’s body, and he’d seen firsthand what that strength could do in battle.  Precum leaked from his dick at the memory of just how Naruto had looked during the ambush, killing the enemy soldiers with his bare hands, his body sprayed with their blood.  Sasuke hadn’t had time to process what he wanted from Naruto at the time.  He knew better now.

“You’re not fucking me in this shower,” Sasuke stated, locking eyes with Naruto and infusing every drop of command into his voice.

Naruto looked up at him, blue eyes wide and almost pleading.  Sasuke could feel the grip on his wrists loosen.  Naruto _could_ force Sasuke to do what he wanted.  But he wouldn’t.  Sasuke would never need drugs or weapons to control Naruto.

“There’s no lube, and I don’t heal as fast as you do.”  Sasuke twisted his wrists, breaking free of Naruto’s loosened grip and placing his hand in the center of Naruto’s chest and giving him a short shove back.

Naruto paused, his mind taking a moment to catch up with what Sasuke was saying.  He stepped back slightly, though he watched Sasuke’s every move closely, as though afraid Sasuke might change his mind.  “Ok.  Your bed, then.”

Sasuke could feel Naruto’s eyes latched on him as he stepped past the G-mod, leisurely drying himself off.  He heard a low sound from behind him, and tossed the towel to Naruto.

“Dry off.  I don’t want water tracked everywhere.”

Naruto caught the towel with ease, quickly scrubbing it over his body.  Sasuke glanced at Naruto in the mirror, noting that the man was still painfully hard.  It pleased him that - regardless of his state of arousal - Naruto had followed Sasuke’s instructions.  Without waiting for him to finish, Sasuke walked over to the bed, pulling the blankets back and reclining against the pillows while he waited.

He hadn’t been sure how he felt about Naruto wanting to fuck him.  Sasuke was used to being the one in control, in sex and everything else.  But as Naruto walked toward him, his eyes hungrily moving over Sasuke’s body, Sasuke realized that he didn’t have to give up control at all.

“Come here,” Sasuke ordered.

Naruto stopped when he reached the bed, his erection hanging heavily between his legs as his eyes traced over every line and ridge of Sasuke’s body.  His gaze lingered on Sasuke’s wrist at the slight bruises forming there from where Naruto had gripped him.  Naruto reached out and slowly brushed a finger over the marks on one wrist.  “I’ve marked you.”  The dark possessiveness in Naruto’s voice was unmistakable, and Sasuke reveled in the power it gave him.

Sasuke arched a brow, letting his eyes slide over the toned muscles of Naruto’s shoulders.  “You like that your mark is on my skin?”

Naruto slid his hand down and closed it lightly over his own shaft.  “ _Yes_.”

“Hn,” Sasuke levered himself up on one elbow, watching how Naruto’s eyes shifted lower to follow the flex of his stomach muscles.  “I didn’t give you permission to mark me.”

Naruto’s eyes narrowed.  “Who says I need your permission.”

Sasuke loved the rush of adrenaline he felt at the dangerous look Naruto gave him.  Fighting and fucking were the same between them, and both men reveled in it.

“You want to fuck me, you have to earn it, G-mod.”

Naruto’s pupils dilated until his eyes were nearly black.  “I won’t need any help from Orochimaru’s arsenal to pin you, Uchiha,” Naruto taunted back.

Sasuke was ready when Naruto shot forward, blocking Naruto’s hands before they could grab him around the wrists again.  He rolled off the edge of the bed facing Naruto, just barely out of arm’s reach.  Both men were painfully hard, eyes lit with anticipation as they began to slowly circle each other.

“Like I told you, Naruto.  I learn from my mistakes.  You can’t try the same thing twice on me.”

A predatory smile spread over Naruto’s face.  “You want me to chase you, Sasuke?”

“Only if you expect me to let you fuck me,” Sasuke countered.

Naruto’s eyes flashed red, and his body posture shifted subtly, the muscles.  The red/blue eyes flickered down to where Sasuke’s arousal was jutting from between his thighs.

“Looks like I’m not the only one who wants that, Uchiha.”

“You have to earn it, G-mod.”  Sasuke shifted his stance slightly wider, readying himself for the attack he knew was coming.  Anticipation thrummed through his blood like it never had for sex before.  His eyes swirled red just as Naruto leapt forward.  Sasuke shifted just enough to the side to have Naruto’s grab for his shoulder miss, but quickly followed through to grab the tan wrist.  He tugged just enough to use Naruto’s own momentum to break his balance, slamming the palm of his hand square in the middle of Naruto’s back and driving him face-first into the wall.

“You’re over-eager,” Sasuke murmured in Naruto’s ear.

Naruto laughed, his face still pressed tight against the wall.  “You’ve got no idea.  God, Sasuke.  I’m gonna love pinning you down.”

Naruto gave no warning before he shoved back from the wall, one arm swinging out wide to block Sasuke’s attempt to shift back out of the way as Naruto tried to reverse their positions, but Sasuke was again too quick.  They circled around each other, neither moving fully out of range of the other.  Each attack was countered, the two top-trained soldiers familiar with the other’s abilities.  Sasuke pushed harder, not holding back from potentially lethal strikes, knowing that Naruto would counter in kind.  It had the same rush that Sasuke would get on the battlefield during the war, but layered with the awareness of what the ultimate end goal was.  He could feel a bruise forming on his left cheekbone, and another on his shoulder.  Naruto had a smear of blood along his jaw where his earlier cut had split back open and a foot-sized bruise along his ribs.

This was a game to them.  They’d been playing cat and mouse with each other from the beginning, but it had always been leading to this.

Sasuke tried to move behind Naruto and slide his forearm around Naruto’s throat, but Naruto read the move and pivoted, grabbing Sasuke’s wrist, forcing it back from his throat with his full strength. 

“Is that how it’s gonna be Sasuke?” Naruto panted out, tightening his grip on Sasuke’s wrist and bringing it behind him in a standard restraint hold.  “Going for the throat already?”

Sasuke brought his free elbow back sharply, striking with perfect accuracy in Naruto’s solar plexus resulting in a satisfying rush of air from the G-mod.  Naruto retaliated by gripping tighter and shoving Sasuke face first down onto the bed, his knee pressing down painfully into Sasuke’s lower back.

“I should just fuck you right like this.  No prep.  No lube,” Naruto panted out.  “Push your face right into the pillow and fuck you until you can’t breathe, until you pass out.”

Sasuke felt a surge of precum leak from his cock at the words.  Naruto was strong enough to carry through on his threat.  Just like Sasuke was strong enough to make him pay for it later.  His mind already raced with all the things he was going to do to Naruto when he got free.

“This round goes to me,” Naruto said, pressing down harder with his knee directly on Sasuke’s spine, though Sasuke knew Naruto wouldn’t use his strength to actually snap it.  It was a show of power, one that Naruto knew Sasuke would understand.

They spoke the same language.

“You just going to kneel there, or are you going to actually do something?”  Sasuke managed, ignoring the pain in his back.  Sasuke had taken the first win.  Naruto could have the second.

Naruto shifted, keeping Sasuke pinned to the bed as he leaned forward and traced his lips along the top of Sasuke’s shoulder.  The gentleness of the touch in sharp contrast with the ruthless way Naruto’s hand still gripped Sasuke’s wrist and his knee pressed against his spine.  Sasuke felt goosebumps run along the back of his neck and Naruto’s lips were chasing them.  Naruto kept Sasuke’s arm pressed high tight behind his back, just shy of actually dislocating Sasuke’s shoulder.  He shifted his knee to the bed, straddling Sasuke’s thighs as he slowly traced his lips along the valley of Sasuke’s spine.

With the pressure off his lower back, Sasuke could probably break free, but he didn’t.  They would both play by the rules of their game.  His body tensed as Naruto’s mouth moved slowly along the contours of Sasuke’s shoulder blades, expecting Naruto to drive into him at any moment, as harsh and violent as their foreplay had been.  

Instead, Naruto took his time, dipping his tongue into the grooves of Sasuke’s muscles while his lips mapped out their ridges.

“God, Sasuke,” Naruto breathed the words across Sasuke’s skin, his tone reverential rather than lust-filled.  He brushed his free hand down along the curve of Sasuke’s lower back, then over his hip, letting his fingers slide forward just enough to curl over Sasuke’s hip bone.

Sasuke’s erection was trapped against the soft bed beneath him, and he flexed his hips slightly, wanting some sort of friction as Naruto continued his torturously slow pace.  Naruto slid his hand beneath Sasuke, running his palm along the flat of Sasuke’s belly before moving lower until the side of his hand brushed against the head of Sasuke’s erection, trapped between his stomach and the bed.

“Hurry up,” Sasuke gritted out.  Sex was not something Sasuke drew out.  It was direct and to the point and then done.  But Naruto seemed to want to play this game differently, judging by the dark chuckle that came from behind him.

“No.  This is my turn.  We’re going to do it my way.”  Naruto’s hand tightened its grip on Sasuke’s wrist, giving his arm just enough pressure to remind him of how they got in this position in the first place.

Naruto’s hand left his stomach, making Sasuke’s jaw clench in frustration as Naruto reached over to grab the lube from the nightstand.  Sasuke noticed that the condoms were left in their package on the table.  Given Naruto’s seeming fixation with having his cum in and on Sasuke, this wasn’t surprising.

The click of the cap being opened was followed shortly by Naruto’s hand sliding back in beneath Sasuke’s body, but this time Naruto didn’t hesitate to close his hand directly around Sasuke’s neglected erection.

Sasuke hissed at the cold lube.

“Fuck, you couldn’t have warmed it up?”

“I’ll warm it up,” Naruto said, slowly pumping up and down over Sasuke’s shaft.  Sasuke could feel Naruto’s erection against his hip, and the bruising grip Naruto held on his wrist, all combining with the slick heat of Naruto’s hand on his dick.

Naruto’s lips moved up along the column of Sasuke’s throat brushing against the sensitive skin before latching on more harshly, likely leaving a bruise on the pale skin.  Naruto paused briefly, and Sasuke looked over his shoulder to see Naruto’s gaze fixed on the mark he’d left on Sasuke’s neck.  It was fierce and possessive and Sasuke’s lips curved at the sight of it.

Naruto leaned down again, sucking bruises down Sasuke’s back while he continued to pump Sasuke’s cock.  Sasuke’s free hand twisted into the sheets, his hips thrusting forward, fucking into Naruto’s fist.

“Your skin tastes so good,” Naruto mumbled.  Naruto either decided Sasuke wasn’t going to try to fight back anymore or simply forgot about restraining Sasuke and released his arm.  Sasuke immediately rolled onto his back, grabbing Naruto by the back of his neck and pulling him down into an eating kiss. 

Naruto adjusted his hold on Sasuke’s dick barely broke pace while Naruto adjust his grip, his tongue surging into Sasuke’s mouth just as Sasuke’s slid into his.  The intimacy of it was somehow more than when Sasuke had actually been fucking Naruto earlier, but Sasuke pushed the thought down and opened his mouth wider.

Without breaking the kiss, Naruto lubed up his fingers and circled it around Sasuke’s entrance before slowly pressing inside.  Sasuke sucked in a breath, at the intrusion, and Naruto moved his mouth down along the column of Sasuke’s throat, leaving a trail of marks down to the hollow at his collarbone. 

Sasuke’s fingers dug into the muscles of Naruto’s shoulders as Naruto discovered a particularly sensitive spot at the base of his throat.

“Looks like I’m not the only one leaving marks.”

“I’m not the one trying to make you look like a leopard.”  Sasuke said as Naruto left yet another hickey, this time on Sasuke’s shoulder.

Naruto was too busy making a trail over the flat of Sasuke’s stomach to bother with a reply.  He paused, releasing Sasuke’s erection and taking in the dark purple-red color of the head. 

“You just going to look?” Sasuke bit out.

Naruto shot him a glare, then slid his mouth over the head of Sasuke’s cock.  Naruto grimaced slightly at the taste of the lube, pulling off briefly and wiping his mouth.  

“You taste much better than this shit does.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes.  “You’re the one who coated me in lube in the first place.”

Naruto settled lower between Sasuke’s thighs.  “You weren’t complaining.”

“I’m still not,” Sasuke said, flexing his hips meaningfully.  “But I will be if you stop now.”

Naruto breathed out a short laugh.  “I’ll just have to clean it off you, so I can taste you better.”  Naruto closed his lips around Sasuke’s head, his tongue swirling around to do just that.

The pain in Sasuke’s shoulder was long forgotten at the tight feel of Naruto adding another finger.   Naruto shifted the position of his fingers and Sasuke suddenly reached down and grabbed Naruto’s wrist.

“Right there.  Keep it right fucking there.”  

Naruto hummed in agreement, his mouth picking up suction around Sasuke’s cock.  The combination of that and place he was stroking inside of him had Sasuke’s heels digging into the bed.  He felt the telltale tingle in his balls, and knew he was close.

Naruto rocked his fingers into the sensitized spot inside Sasuke, pulling his mouth off just long enough to ask, “What, didn’t any of the girls you fucked ever do this for you?”

Sasuke felt the edge of his orgasm slipping away.  “Don’t you dare fucking stop.”

Naruto grinned, pulling his fingers out.  “Fine.  I won’t stop.”

Naruto quickly slicked up his own erection with lube and lined himself up.  Sasuke’s eyes widened as he felt Naruto press inside.  He hadn’t paid attention to how many fingers Naruto had used, but however many it was, it definitely hadn’t been enough.  At least Naruto had used a lot of lube.

“Fuck you feel good,” Naruto groaned.  

Sasuke focused on breathing.  Once the initial shock of it was over, he took in the strained expression on Naruto’s face as the man clearly was battling to hold himself still while Sasuke adjusted.  Sasuke could see the slight tremor in Naruto’s arms as he braced himself over him, holding himself still while Sasuke adjusted.

Sasuke experimentally rocked his hips, earning a sound that was almost a whine from Naruto’s throat.  

“God, Sasuke, wait -”

Sasuke’s eyes fell half closed as he did it again, a smirk forming on his lips.

“You asshole,” Naruto groaned.  He retaliated by slowly pulling back then driving back in in one hard thrust.

When Naruto adjusted the angle on his third thrust, Sasuke forgot all about his shoulder and every other part of his body.

“Like that,” Sasuke ordered.  “Right there.”

Naruto didn’t complain about being told what to do that time, driving in to Sasuke while gripping his hips to keep the angle right.

Sasuke pushed back, meeting Naruto’s thrusts with equal force.  “Oh, fuck,” Naruto groaned out, his eyes drifting closed as their bodies moved against each other in a harsh, unyielding rhythm.

“Wanna see you cum.” Naruto’s words are slurred, his eyes so glazed with lust when he opened them that he looked almost drunk with it.  “’M gonna cum inside you.  Mark you up inside with my scent.”

Sasuke leaned forward, latching onto Naruto’s throat and sucking harshly.  Naruto’s hand wrapped around Sasuke’s shaft, pumping him in time with his thrusts until Sasuke saw white.  He felt Naruto stiffen, hissing out a strangled sound before collapsing next to him on the bed.

Sasuke had no idea what this was, but he knew that he was going to take Naruto back with him when he returned home.

* * *

 

Sasuke rolled over to look at Naruto, wondering what the G-mod was thinking.  He found Naruto’s blue eyes locked on him, their expression curious but not wary.

“So what now?” Naruto asked.

“What do you mean, ‘what now’?”

“Well… you’ve done what you came here to do.  And you clearly have a job you need to get back to with your brother.  So… what now?”

Sasuke’s dark eyes showed no expression as he paused for a moment.

“Sarutobi is looking for a way to escape execution.  He was more careful than Danzo was.  A lot of it will depend on whether people still believe his word or not.”

Naruto felt anger bubble deep in his belly at the thought of the man going free.

“One of the claims he is making to try to gain sympathy is that he helped you escape in order to derail the attempt to assassinate Itachi and me.”

Naruto sputtered.  “But that’s… that’s _bullshit_!  I escaped on my own.  The video feeds show that!”

Sasuke shrugged, slightly.  “He claims he make the containment weak so you had a better chance.  And he claims he sent you a message through one of the guards telling you how to escape.  The guard is backing him.”

“Who cares what he says?  Itachi is Chancellor now.  Can’t he just kill him?  Or throw him in jail?”

“Sarutobi was a very popular figure, Naruto.  If Itachi wants to keep power without a civil war, he has to make Sarutobi’s supporters change sides.  And with most people thinking you died in the fall, there’s no one to say either way if he’s lying or not.”

Naruto stilled.  “You want me to go back with you.  But why would people believe me over Sarutobi?  I’m a wanted criminal.  When I left, there was an all-out manhunt going on for me.”

“Things have changed since you left.  We needed to give the people evidence of the past regime’s corruption.  Your story was very… compelling.”

“My story?”

“Who you really are.  What happened to your parents.  What was done to you.  Your parents were popular figures.  The older generations still remember them.  And the idea of a war hero being betrayed and locked in a cell for experimentation doesn’t sit well with anyone.”

Naruto didn’t even know what to think.  “I’ve gone from public enemy number one to _war hero_?  That’s probably only working because they think I’m safely dead.  No one wants a live G-mod roaming the streets back home.”  Naruto didn’t bother to hide the bitterness in his voice.

“So change their minds.”

“What?”

“Come back and prove them wrong.  I have complete autonomy on who I appoint in my organization.  And Orochimaru’s facility is without a head.”

Naruto sat up, anger flooding through him.  “I’m not going to take over as warden and torture all the G-mods that your soldiers managed to recapture!”

Sasuke rolled his eyes.  “Don’t be a moron.  I’m not saying you run the facility in the way Orochimaru did.  I’m saying you head up the G-mod program, and run it how you want to.”

Naruto opened his mouth, but then realized he had no idea what to say.  He laid back down, staring at the ceiling as thoughts raced through his head.  

“Why?  Why would you give it to me?”

“You know the program better than anyone else.  And I know for a fact that you are not secretly loyal to Danzo or Sarutobi.  A requirement for the job that is particularly difficult to fulfill with most people at the moment.”

Naruto was stunned at the offer.  Sasuke was dead serious.  Would it work?  Would they really let him?  Was this a trap?

Naruto met Sasuke’s gaze.  If he took this role, he would get to keep Sasuke.  And he would get to dismantle the machine that had destroyed his life.  Even if it were a trap, it was probably worth it.

“Yeah.  Ok.  Let’s do it.”

“Hn.”  Sasuke’s complete lack of surprise at Naruto’s response made Naruto narrow his eyes at the elite soldier.

“Oh, but Sasuke?  If you ever tranq me again, I’ll make sure you’re the one who ends up tied to a big piece of metal.”

Sasuke’s eyes shifted from smug to wary.  Naruto smiled.

“Let’s go get dressed and find Gaara before he burns the city to the ground looking for me.”  Naruto paused seeming thoughtful.  “You said I could run the G-mod program like I wanted.  Does that include deciding who I hire to work with me?”

Sasuke gave him a flat look, not sure how he felt about having the person who had taken Naruto away from him working so closely with Naruto, but he gave a short nod.

Naruto grinned.

* * *

 

**_The end._ **

 

 ** _A/N_** \- So… in generally I HATE writing double lemons in a chapter because it just feels gratuitous.  And really, I don’t believe at all that whoever tops has anything to do with relationship power.  But in THIS universe, I felt like it had to go both ways in the end. SO we ended up with the big porn marathon LOL.  I will hopefully avoid this situation in the future!  But we have finally come to the end.  *flops down in exhaustion*  Now I need to go and look through my bazillion incomplete stories on gdocs and figure out which one I want to write next.  Nothing dark, that’s for sure!


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